Sakura's Amazing LifeOr Is It?
by Azreal Ezra
Summary: Sakura Haruno was married to the greatest man alive. She had beautiful children and a life to die for. Until she find out it isn't really her life.
1. Chapter 1

**Another plot bunny I had floating around in my head. This is my 3****rd**** story. Enjoy!**

****I do NOT own Naruto**

Sakura walked up the walkway to her house. She dug the keys out of her purse and unlocked her front door. She walked in, setting her keys and purse on the side table and removed her shoes.

She smelled the most delicious food. Her husband always was a better cook than her. She smiled at the memory. "I'm home." Sakura shouted out through the living room where she was removing her lab coat.

As she was hanging up her jacket she felt something slam into her thigh and grab on tight. She reached down, ruffling her son's hair. "Hi Mama!" Her son yelled with a big smile on his face.

"Why hello there Obito!" Sakura said, squatting down and giving her son a big hug.

"Daddy said 'tell Mama ta wash her hands'." Obito stated, dragging his mother towards the bathroom.

"Is that so, hm? Well, I suppose since Daddy said so, I'll have to listen." Sakura said with a giggle. "What did Daddy make tonight?" She turned on the faucet and washed her hands.

"Dumplings!" Obito shouted excitedly, handing his mom a towel.

"Your favorite!" Sakura lifted him up and spun him around. She sat him in his booster seat and strapped him in.

"Welcome home." Her husband said as she got a hug from behind. "Good day or bad day?" He asked.

She turned around and kissed him on the cheek. "Good day. I hear your cooking dumplings." She walked to the fridge, grabbing juice boxes.

"Only the best for my family." He said with a chuckle. He grabbed one of the juice boxes, opening it for his son.

"How is Ino feeling today?" Sakura opened the other juice box, sitting it on the table.

"She is still running a fever. But she was able to keep down peanut butter and crackers and a few cups of the juice you made for her. It seems to be helping." Kakashi said while setting the table.

"Is she awake?" Sakura asked grabbing napkins to set out.

"She wasn't when I checked on her about a half hour ago. But you can check to see if she wants to try eating." He turned the oven off.

Sakura walked back the hallway and opened the purple door. She was a little lump in a pile of blankets. She uncovered the little girl, shaking her slightly.

"Ino hunny, it's time to wake up." Sakura said quietly. The only response she got was a mumble and the little girl burying her face in the mattress.

"Oh no you don't little miss grumpy pants." Sakura said grabbing the little girl and pulling her into her lap.

"But Sakurrraaaa!" The little girl said very whiny

"No buts Ino. It's dinner time." Sakura said brushing her hair out a little.

"What are we having? My stomach still feels icky." Ino said skeptically.

"Kakashi made dumplings. Let's go, I want you to at least try eating. If you can't I'll have Kakashi make you more peanut butter and crackers. Sound good?" Sakura stood up and carried the girl out the door into the hallway.

"Ya, I guess." Ino said with a yawn.

Sakura entered the kitchen and Kakashi grabbed Ino from her. He put her in her booster chair next to Obito and handed her a juice box.

"How are you feeling sweetie?" Kakashi asked the little girl.

"My tummy still feels a little icky. But I told Sakura I would try to eat dinner. But if I can't can you make me more peanut butter and crackers please?" Ino asked politely.

"Of course Ino." He said kissing her on the head.

Sakura and Kakashi sat down for dinner and began to eat.

"Mmmmm, Kakashi, these are SO good." Sakura said with a mouth full.

"Thank you." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Mama it's not polite to talk with your mouth full." Obito reminded her.

"You're right Obito, it's not polite, and I apologize." She smiled at her son.

"Are you doing anything for Ino's birthday tomorrow?" Kakashi asked

"We are going to visit her mom and dad in the morning, and then I figured she could pick the rest of the day." Sakura finished up her food.

"CAN WE GO SHOPPING?" Ino screeched.

Kakashi and Sakura both busted out laughing "Hahahaha you sound so much like your mother." Kakashi said laughing.

Ino smiled "Will you tell me about mommy again?" She asked innocently.

Sakura smiled sadly at the little girl. "Of course dear, at bed time." Sakura and Kakashi began to clean the table.

Kakashi took Obito to get a bath and get tucked into bed. Sakura was changing Ino's bed sheets, blankets and pillow cases trying to get some of the sick kid smell out of the room. When Kakashi was done getting Obito to bed, it was Ino's turn. Sakura got her washed up quickly. They walked into the purple bedroom and Sakura lifted Ino into bed. Kakashi had seats set up by her bed so they could tell her the story about her mom again.

Kakashi came in the room with a cup of juice and some peanut butter and crackers for the little girls 'icky' tummy.

"You ready sweetie?" Kakashi asked Ino. She nodded her head yes, so he took a seat next to his wife.

"Well Ino, your mom and I were best friends for all of our childhood. She loved shopping, boys, and the color purple. She had the most beautiful blue eyes and went perfectly with her blonde hair. She was always there for me when I needed a friend. "Sakura smiled at the memory of her best friend.

"She set me and Kakashi up on a double date with her and your dad. And from that night on, your mom and dad were inseparable."

"Neither were me and Sakura. I owe your mom the biggest debt for giving me the family I never thought I would have." Kakashi interjected, reaching his hand over to grip Sakura's.

"We were the maid of honor at each other's wedding. And we found out on the same day that we were both pregnant with you and Obito. I was a month farther along than her. Kakashi and I knew the names for our baby right away. But Ino and Choji wanted to wait until you were born to pick your name."

"Sakura had Obito a month before you were born. Your mom loved to hold him, saying she was practicing to be perfect for you." Kakashi said quietly, starting this part of the story, knowing Sakura gets a bit emotional.

"Your father was called away for a mission 2 weeks before your mom was due with you. He was supposed to be back in time." Kakashi took in a deep breath. "2 weeks came and went and you were a miracle coming into the world. But there were complications. Your Grammy Tsunade tried as hard as she could, but your mom didn't make it. We almost lost you too but Sakura was able to save you. A few days later, we found out your daddy died on his mission. He died as a hero, saving the rest of his team. That's when Sakura and I made the decision to take you in. We owed your mom so much; we just couldn't let you go up for adoption."

"When I held you and told you we were taking your home. You opened your eyes real big and smiled. You have your mom's eyes. So Kakashi and I agreed to name you after the most amazing woman we knew." Sakura said with a shaky voice.

"My mommy?" Ino said already knowing the answer since she heard the story every year since she can remember on the night before her birthday.

"Yup sweetie, your mommy." Kakashi reached over and mussed her hair. "Are you ready to be 6 years old?" Kakashi asked

"I can't wait to show mommy and daddy how much I've grown!" Ino said giggling.

Sakura and Kakashi stood up. "It's time to sleep dear. Good night." Sakura kissed Ino's head, Kakashi doing the same.

They closed the door and headed for their room. As soon as they got in and closed the door, Sakura collapsed on the floor in a sob. Kakashi quickly scooped her up in a hug, rubbing her back.

"Ssshhh. It's ok Sakura. It's ok." Kakashi whispered in her ear reassuringly.

"I love you Kakashi." Sakura said sobbing into Kakashi's shoulder.

"I love you to Sakura." He kissed her forehead. He lifted her into his arms and laid her on the bed. He lay down next to her, pulling her close as she cried herself to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! I realize that this story is going to be confusing. This is kind of the point. I'd say in this chapter it should clear things up a little bit. **

Sakura was up early and getting ready for her outing with Ino. She had just gotten out of the shower and was brushing her hair. After she got dressed and walked out the bedroom door, Kakashi was already getting Ino dressed and had breakfast started.

Sakura went to the kitchen and got the table set and poured everyone some juice. Obito came running into the kitchen, climbing into his chair. "Good morning Mama." Obito said rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Good morning little man" She said mussing his silver hair a bit, setting down his juice.

Kakashi came walking in; Ino in his arms all dressed and ready to go for the day. He sat her down in her seat and walked over to the stove to help Sakura plate up their breakfast.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY INO!" Obito yelled at the top of his lungs.

Ino giggled at her brother. "Thanks Obito."

The Hadaka family quieted down and ate their breakfast. When they were all finished Kakashi got up and started gathering the plates. Sakura lifted the two kids from their chairs. "Alright you two, go wash your hands and then Ino and I will be going." They both ran off to the bathroom to wash their hands.

"Any concrete plans yet?" Kakashi asked his wife while washing up the dishes, handing them to Sakura to dry.

"Not specifically. I figured we'd visit Ino and Choji and then maybe go for a walk through the park. Naruto wanted to meet up for lunch and then I was going to take her shopping." Sakura said putting dishes away.

"Sounds like a fun day. Obito and I are going to visit Iruka and get them enrolled for the academy this season." Kakashi wiped off the table.

"I'm ready Sakura!" Ino came running into the kitchen.

"Ok hunny, let's get our shoes on." Sakura led Ino over to the doorway to get their shoes on.

"Wait Mama, Ino!" Obito yelled from the other room.

"Hurry up Obito; they are walking out the door." Kakashi yelled back from the kitchen.

Obito ran down the hallway into the living room with something in his hand. He ran up to Ino and held out the 'present'.

"Here is your present Ino." He handed her 2 pieces of paper with drawings on them. Ino looked at them.

"I drew one of us playing ninja for you to give to your mom." Obito explained why there were two pictures.

Ino hugged Obito. "Thank you Obito."

"See you later boys." Sakura said kissing Obito on the cheek "We'll be back for dinner."

And with that they were out the door. They walked through the village, being greeted by most civilians and ninja. Sakura was the best medic there was, on par with Tsunade, so everyone in the village appreciated her for her work. She had saved a lot of lives.

"Here's our first stop Ino." Sakura motioned to the flower shop.

"To get Mommy flowers?" Ino asked.

"Yup. She used to work here with your Grandma Yamanaka when she wasn't on missions. She knew the meaning of every flower." Sakura explained. She and Kakashi agreed very early on that they would tell Ino about her mother and father. They were great people and she should know about them. They wanted Ino to know her family closely.

They walked into the shop, and the bell rang. Sakura looked to the counter and smiled. This shop brought back so many memories.

"Good morning Grandpa Yamanaka." Sakura said. Inoichi looked up and saw his favorite little girl holding Sakura's hand.

"Good morning girls!" He said smiling. He stepped around the counter and squatted down. "And happy 6th birthday to you pumpkin!" He held out his arms and the little girl launched herself into him. He hugged her tight.

"My my how you've grown. It's been a few weeks since I've seen you; I was off on a mission." He said sitting her back down on the floor. "You off to see Mommy and Daddy this morning?"

"Yup! I'm gonna show mommy how tall I am and Obito drew a picture for her!" The little girl said with sparkling eyes, holding out the picture for him to see. "It's me and Obito playing ninja!"

"I can see. It's very nice." He said standing up. "Sakura, I know you two usually do this alone but do you mind if I tag along. I haven't been up there since I was sent on that mission." He asked. She could see the sadness in his eyes.

"Of course Inoichi." She replied, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. "Hunny, Grandpa Yamanaka is going to come with us, isn't that exciting!" she asked the little girl.

"Yay! Can I sit on your shoulders?" Ino jumped up and down.

"How can I refuse such a cute little girl" He said with a chuckle. "Sakura, if you don't mind." He motioned to the flowers setting on the counter. Sakura grabbed them while Inoichi hoisted the little girl up on his shoulders.

"She looks just like her mother did at that age." Inoichi said to Sakura.

"She does. And she has the temper to match some days." Sakura and Inoichi both laughed.

They left he shop and made their way to their destination. As they were walking, suddenly Sakura felt weird. Kind of like she was dizzy but not at the same time. She didn't know how to describe it.

"You ok?" Inoichi asked concerned.

"Ya, I just felt…I dunno…kind of dizzy? I don't know how to describe it." Sakura said brows furrowed

Inoichi nodded, keeping a close eye on the girl. They reached their destination and Inoichi picked Ino up off his shoulders and set her down on the ground. He opened the door to the Akimichi burial vault. Ino rushed in and Sakura followed. While Inoichi lit the candles, Sakura let Ino to her mom and dad's burial site.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Ino yelled. She went to run forward but Sakura stopped her. She handed the little girl a set of flowers and then motioned her to go.

"Hi Mommy and Daddy. Today is my 6th birthday." Ino said setting the flowers in the holder next to her mom's site. "Oh, and Obito drew you this picture! It's of me and him playing ninja." She looked around, trying to find a place to put it, but didn't find one so she set it on the floor.

"Sakura and Kakashi said that I could start at the academy this season. So I won't have to play ninja for much longer cause I'll actually be one." Ino said giggling.

"Oh! Sakura! Can we show Mommy how tall I got?" Ino asked excitedly.

"Yes dear. Stand straight against the wall between your Mom and Dad." Sakura said, pulling a kunai out of her pouch. She walked over and marked the marble above Ino's head.

Ino stepped back as Sakura marked her age and the year in the marble next to the line.

"Wow. Look how big you got pumpkin!" Inoichi said to the little girl, mussing her hair.

'SAKURA!' Sakura spun around. She could have sworn she heard someone yell her name.

'SAKURA! SAKURA HARUNO!' She heard it again. She was looking at Ino and Inoichi and they definatly weren't yelling for her.

'FOREHEAD!' Sakura felt that dizzy feeling again.

Inoichi noticed and walked over to her.

"Sakura, are you sure you're ok." He put his hand on her back.

She looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "I hear someone calling for me." She said with a shaky voice. No one has called her Forehead since her best friend passed away.

"I didn't hear anything." Inoichi said, feeling Sakura's forehead for a fever.

'SAKURA! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP! WAKE UP SAKURA!' the voice called to her

"It's telling me to wake up." Sakura said. She felt a sharp pain in her head.

"Sakura?" Inoichi said

"Please get Kakashi Inoichi." Sakura pleaded. She had no idea what was going on.

Inoichi quickly ran off to do as she requested.

"Sakura….are you ok?" little Ino said quietly.

Sakura sat down on the ground. "I'm ok hunny. I'm just not feeling well." She pulled Ino close to her.

'FOREHEAD WAKE UP! WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU.' The voice called to her

Sudden excruciating pain over took Sakura. She put her head in her hands and moaned.

"Sakura!" She heard Kakashi yell as he ran in. He knelt down in front of her.

Sakura looked up at him and froze in shock. She could see Ino standing in the corner. Not little Ino. Dead best friend Ino.

'Sakura, please listen to me. I need you to wake up. I need you to come back home to us.' Dead Ino said, tears running down her face.

"I see Ino." Sakura said as she began shaking.

"She is right next to you Sakura, she is fine. Don't worry about her." Kakashi said running his hand though her hair and wiping away tears with the other.

"You don't understand Kakashi." Sakura said with a sob. "I see Ino. Dead Ino. Inoichi's daughter Ino."

'Sakura I'm not dead.' Dead Ino began to walk slowly towards her.

Another sudden pain "AAAHHHH" Sakura screamed in agony. She looked up at Kakashi, things started to go dark.

"Inoichi, grab the kids. We need to get Sakura to the hospital now!" Kakashi grabbed her and ran outside towards the hospital.

"Kakashi" Sakura whispered. "I love you." A tear ran down her cheek.

"Ssshhh it's ok Sakura. We're almost there." Kakashi said reassuringly.

"I love you." Sakura said again

"I love you too." Kakashi kissed the top of her head.

She blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Naruto!**

'Sakura. Sakura.' She heard someone yelling for her. 'Sakura. Sakura Haruno. Wake up.' She just wanted to be left alone.

She felt someone shake her this time. 'She's waking up, go get the Hokage!' She heard Kakashi's voice.

"Ka…ka..shi…" Sakura whispered.

"I'm right here Sakura." Sakura felt a hand on her arm. She opened her eyes slowly. Things were blurry.

"Kakashi?" She asked confirming.

"It's me Sakura." She felt the bed shift as he sat on the edge of the bed. She looked over in his direction and blinked a few more times. Sure enough, her favorite silver haired ninja was sitting next to her on her bed.

She lunged forward. Launching herself into him and squeezed him with a tight hug. "Kakashi! I was so scared!" She said suddenly sobbing.

Kakashi patted her on the head, unsure what to do. "It's ok Sakura, you're awake now. You're safe."

Sakura leaned back, looked into the eyes of the man she loved. She reached up quickly, grabbed his mask, pulled it down and crashed her lips against his. She heard the door open.

She felt Kakashi stiffen. He wasn't kissing her back. She leaned back; he was giving her a weird look. His eye brows were furrowed in confusion.

"Kakashi, what's wrong." Sakura asked him. He simply slipped off the bed and walked towards the Hokage.

Sudden fear over took Sakura. "Kakashi, where is Obito?" She asked slightly frantic.

Everyone in the room turned and looked at Sakura as if she had grown two more heads.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, staring at her with his lone grey eye.

"You know exactly what I mean Kakashi. Where is Obito?" Sakura was more frantic now. Surely Kakashi would play games about their son. He knew how protective she was of him.

"Sakura, Obito is dead." Shizune said, approaching her slowly.

Sakura glared at Shizune, stopping her in her tracks.

"Stop playing around Kakashi. Where is our son?" Sakura said in a tone that meant she wasn't kidding around.

"Our son?" Kakashi said surprised, his eye widening in shock.

"Yes Kakashi, OUR SON!" Sakura screamed. She threw the blankets off of her and went to get out of the hospital bed but quickly fell to the floor with a thud.

Shizune ran over to Sakura to help her up. "Sakura, you need to calm down and get back in bed. You aren't well enough to stand yet."

Suddenly Inoichi walked into the room "Hokage-sama. She has recovered and is waking up." He advised her.

"Where is Ino?" Her eyes focused on the elder Yamanaka.

"Oh, Sakura, you're awake. I didn't expect that so quickly. Ino is recovering a few rooms down." He said reassuringly.

Sakura's body jolted with the thought of her little Ino being hurt. What happened while she was out?

"What happened to Ino?" She asked the man in a very serious tone.

"She's fine. She's just recovering from the mind transfer jutsu." He said matter-of-factly.

"WHAT! You would perform that on a little girl!" Sakura yelled. Again trying to get out of her bed.

"Sakura, Ino is the one who performed it….?" Inoichi informed her, quite confused.

"Tsunade-sama, I believe Sakura still thinks she is in the world the genjutsu created." Shizune suggested.

"What are you talking about? I swear to god Kakashi, if you don't stop joking with me, I WILL divorce you." Sakura growled through her teeth.

Everyone eyes jolted wide when they heard that part.

"Divorce me?" Kakashi repeated. Astounded by what he just heard.

Tsunade walked up to Sakura's bed. She sat down next to Sakura and grabbed her arms tightly. Once she had Sakura's attention, she took a deep breath.

"Sakura tell me about your life." Tsunade said in a very motherly tone.

"My name is Sakura Hatake. I am 27 years old. I have been married to Kakashi Hatake for 7 years. I have a 6 year old son with Kakashi named Obito. We have an adopted daughter named Ino that we took in after Ino died giving birth to her and Choji died on a mission, leaving the girl without her parents. Today was little Ino's birthday and the anniversary of her mom's death. So me, Ino, and Inoichi went to the Akimichi family burial vault to visit her parents like we do every year. That's when I started hearing a voice calling for me. My head began to hurt tremendously so I had Inoichi go back for Kakashi. At that time I saw Ino. The dead one. Kakashi rushed me over to the hospital, on the way I blacked out. And here I am now." Sakura finished.

Tsunade looked stunned. "Sakura, this is going to be hard to hear. But please listen. Your name is Sakura Haruno. You are 18 years old. You are NOT married to Kakashi. And you do NOT have any children. You are single and live alone. And Ino is still alive and well. The voice you heard and the person you saw was really Ino during the mind transfer jutsu trying to reach you while you were in that genjutsu." Tsunade said.

"A genjutsu?" Sakura said, searching Tsunade's eyes for any hint that this was a joke.

"Yes, a genjutsu. I sent you on a mission a few months back. You didn't return on time, and we were about to send out a search party when Sasuke showed up at the main gain with you in his arms unconscious. He said he found you like this and wanted to get you back home. You've been out for a little under a month." Tsunade explained.

"Sasuke? Brought me home?" Sakura was so confused.

"He expressed a desire to stay in the village and help you recover. I am unsure of his motives at this time so he is being held in the interrogation sector for now until we figure it out." Tsunade sighed. "Do you understand Sakura? None of that was real." Tsunade finished.

"None of it….is real…?" Sakura said. She began to shake. Her world was crumbling around her.

"I'm afraid not Sakura." Tsunade pulled the girl into a hug.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO!" Sakura screamed, slamming her fists into Tsunade's chest, sobbing. "I want my family. I want my family."

"Sssshhhh. It's ok Sakura. It's ok. Everything is going to be alright." Tsunade rubbed her back.

Sakura continue to sob into her mentors shoulder. Tsunade motioned for Shizune to give her a shot.

"Sakura, I am going to have Shizune give you a shot to help you relax ok?" Tsunade asked, never letting go.

"It doesn't even matter anymore." Sakura continued to cry. "Kakashi, my son, little Ino…my entire life isn't real! How can I live without them!" Sakura began to cry harder.

Shizune gave her the shot and rubbed Sakura's back reassuringly. Sakura began to calm down almost immediately and began to fall asleep. Tsunade laid her back on the bed, pulling her covers up.

Kakashi nodded to her and Shizune as they left the room with Inoichi. He could see the tears in Tsunade's eyes.

He moved slowly over to the bed. Looking at Sakura's stilled form. Her brow was furrowed. Apparently even in sleep she found no peace.

He reached over and brushed a piece of hair off her face. What she had said really floored him. They were married, and had a child together…. 'Did I really mean that much to her?' He thought to himself as he turned and walked out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, at least I guess thanks for the 1 reviewer I got! Thank you! **

**This is kind of a filler chapter. It's needed or it wouldn't make sense for where I'm going with it. So just hang on!**

**I don't own Naruto**

Sakura didn't sleep well. She kept dreaming of her family dying. Her eyes finally shot open and she sat up quickly. "OBITO!" she screamed. She looked around.

'Why am I in the hospital?' she thought to herself. Suddenly remembering what Tsunade said. "Maybe it was all just a bad dream…" she said out loud but to no one in particular.

"Which dream, this one? Or the one where you were married to Kakashi?" A voice said.

Sakura looked over to the corner of the room where she heard the voice come from. She saw Ino stand up and walk over towards her.

"I was hoping that it was this one. But I guess it's not my day." Sakura said sadly. Tears began to fall down her face.

Ino sat down on the bed, facing her. She took Sakura's hand in hers and began rubbing the back of it with her thumb for a small comfort.

"You were dead Ino." Sakura sobbed "I missed you so much every day." She leaned forward to hug her friend close, almost not believing she was actually alive.

"I'm so sorry Sakura. I'm so sorry." Ino rubbed her back while Sakura sobbed into her shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it? Tsunade said it may make you feel better to let someone into that world so you don't feel alone in your struggle." Ino offered

"I'd like that. Thank you." Sakura squeezed Ino tight.

"Alright. I want to go get a few things. The nurses wanted to do some tests anyway, so I'll go get that stuff while they are doing that. I'll be back in about an hour and we'll talk. Ok?" Ino said, moving away from Sakura, handing her a glass of water.

"Ok. I'll see you then." Sakura said softly.

"I'll let the nurses know you're awake." Ino said as she slipped out the door.

After a few moments a nurse came in with a tray. "Good afternoon Sakura-san. My name is Ami. I am the nurse that has been in charge of your care. Is it ok if I sit down and talk to you about what I am going to do today?" the nurse said with a gentle smile on her face.

Sakura nodded but didn't say anything.

"Alright then." The nurse said sitting down "There we go. So Sakura, first I just want to say that it has been an absolute honor working under you in the hospital before. You may not remember me, we never really talked. But you are an absolute inspiration. Second, Lady Hokage said it may be easier for you to emotionally deal with someone caring for you that you weren't already close with, because it may bring back memories of the genjutsu and confuse you. And Third, since you are already a renown medic nin I won't bore you with the details but I need to get some blood, I need to check all your vitals, and I will help you set up physical therapy to get your muscle mass back. Lady Hokage has set up one of the physician apartments for you to stay in for now so you can feel more at home. It's connected to the hospital right next to the emergency room. I'm sure you're familiar with it. Do you understand all of that so far?" Ami asked

Sakura nodded again

"Great. Lady Hokage is going to allow you to do paperwork and charts. And when we get you a bit stronger, you will be allowed to work in the clinic with minor injuries as long as you stay in a wheel chair until we get you walking again. I will be your main nurse and also act somewhat as a secretary for you. If you need anything, you only need to ask. I will also have you set up a visitor list so you don't get people in that you don't want to see, or when you don't want to see them. Ready to get started?" She asked Sakura.

"Yea" Sakura said quietly.

Ami went about drawing some blood, getting vitals, checking reflexes, and checking out her eyes, ears and mouth. Everything took about an hour.

Sakura looked at the clock. Ino said she would be back in hour.

"Um" Sakura said just above a whisper but paused. She didn't want to be rude.

"What's up Sakura?" Ami asked

"Ino should be back soon. Will she know where to find me?" Sakura seemed so timid.

"Yup! She's gonna meet us over at your new room. We discussed it when she left." Ami said patting her shoulder reassuringly.

Sakura took a deep breath. 'I guess I'm just going to have to get used to this.'

"So where is this wheelchair you were talking about?" Sakura asked. Obviously not amused she was expected to use it on a regular basis.

"Ah. Come on Sakura-san! It won't be so bad. And you'll be on your feet before you know it!" Ami giggled, pulling the chair out of the closet and rolling it over to Sakura's bed.

Ami picked Sakura up bridal style and placed her gently into the chair. She covered her with a blanket and handed her a face mask.

"What's this for?" Sakura inquired while putting it on.

"We'll, you see, you were just released from that genjutsu. I don't want you to get overwhelmed like you were yesterday. So I figured if you couldn't see anything, then maybe you could stay calm and collected." Ami started moving the chair.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at their destination.

"There you guys are! I thought something might have happened!" Ino said a little too loudly for Sakura's taste. She cringed on the sudden intrusion on her ears. She slowly removed the face mask and gave her friend a small smile.

Sakura looked at her temporary home. It was a small apartment, and everything was on one floor.

"I know it looks bare. I was going to buy some decorations, but I realize that your taste might be a little different now. So you tell me what you want and I'll get it for you. But for now, we have to pick someone to do your physical therapy." Ino said handing Sakura a list of physical therapists in the hospital. "Pick anyone from the list and the Hokage will assign them." Ino motioned Ami to push Sakura over to the living room.

"Ok" Sakura said unsure of herself.

"Thanks Ami, I'll take it from here. Sakura and I have A LOT of work to do." Ino said with a big smile on her face.

Sakura's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are we doing?" She asked Ino.

"Sakura, you have been lying in bed for like a month. We need to get you cleaned up a little. I figured we'd have a sleep over and I'd help you out a little. And we could talk." Ino said with a very sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Ok" Sakura said quietly.

Ino patted her friend on the head. "Your hair is like an oily rats nest." She said, wiping her hand on her shirt. "First thing I'll do is change my cloths and then cut your hair." Ino said grabbing her bag and heading to the bathroom.

She emerged from the hallway with a baggy shirt on and a pair of scissors.

"Ready?" Ino said, opening and closing the scissors as if to taunt Sakura.

Sakura nodded. Ino took Sakura's hair out of the messy bun it was in and grabbed a spray bottle, spraying it down to help get through the knots.

Ino brushed her hair out and Sakura saw just how long her hair was.

"So how do you want it? Just trimmed or chop it off?" Ino said smoothing her hair down.

"Just below my shoulder blades with short layers and my bangs just below my cheek bone, framing my face." Sakura replied.

"Like how it looks longer now?" Ino inquired. Sakura had always kept it shorter since Sasuke left years ago.

"Kakashi likes it that way." Sakura said with a small smile. But then realized what she said.

"I mean… um…-" Sakura started to fix her mistake when she was interrupted by Ino.

"So, tell me what it was like to be married to the hottest man in Konoha? How did you two get together?" Ino asked, wanting to make her friend more comfortable.

Sakura giggled softly "Actually, you got us together."

Ino paused for a moment and then went back to cutting Sakura's hair. "Really? How did I manage that. You are such a prude when it comes to going out and having fun." Ino said laughing.

"Ya, I was. You actually had a date and were nervous so you begged me and Kakashi to double date with you. We just hit it off and were attached at the hip ever since." Sakura explained.

"I still can't believe I married Choji. CHOJI! Of all people!" Ino laughed at herself.

"Once you and Choji were together, you grew up a lot from when we were teenagers begging for Sasuke's attention an love. You weren't so vain anymore." Sakura replied.

"I AM NOT VAIN!" Ino yelled, putting her hands on her hips.

"HA!" Sakura busted out laughing. "Says Ms. Vanity herself."

"Very funny Sakura. Very funny." Ino said with mock disgust, sticking out her tounge. "There we go, all done with your hair. Now let's get your face all fixed up."

"What's wrong with my face?" Sakura searched for a mirror.

"Oh absolutely nothing, other than your HUMONGOUS forehead." Ino laughed "You need a facial. They gave you baths and stuff while you were out but you could really use some pampering." Ino patted her on the shoulder.

Ino got out the face mud and cucumbers for their eyes. She stepped into the kitchen and got a hot bowl of water, dipping a small towel in the water. She motioned Sakura to tilt her head back and relax. She placed a hot towel on her face and left it there.

Just as Sakura thought she may fall asleep from the comforting heat, Ino pulled the towel off and started putting the mud mask on. Once done, she put on her own mask, put cucumbers on both of their eyes and they relaxed.

"You want filled in on what is your current life?" Ino asked

"Sure." Sakura said, completely relaxed.

Ino filled her in on all the gossip around town. A while later, Sakura suddenly felt her chair moving. She peeled the cucumbers off and saw that they were heading to the bathroom. The bathroom was large, and the shower was made wheelchair friendly so she could just be wheeled right in. Ino helped her get into the shower chair and then Ino stripped down naked. She untied Sakura's hospital gown and removed it. She turned on the water and got it hot.

"This feels SO good. I felt ssssooo disgusting." Sakura said enjoying the hot water hitting her body.

"Clean yourself up as much as you can and when your arms get tired I'll finish up." Ino said handing her a washcloth and soap.

They got themselves cleaned up. Sakura was proud of herself, she managed to do it all herself except her hair. Ino helped out with that.

Ino turned off the water and grabbed Sakura a large towel, wrapping it around her to keep her warm. She left for a moment and came back in with cloths. She helped Sakura dry off, and get cloths on, then started drying her hair.

She took out the blow dryer and started drying her hair straight. Once they were done Ino wheeled her back out to the living room.

"Ok. Now that that is done. Pedi next!" Ino squeeled. She had always loved making over Sakura. And Sakura wasn't about to complain, she was enjoying the pampering by the friend she never thought she'd see again.

She got Sakura all set up and began working on her feet. "So, Tsunade said you had a kid. What was Kakashi like as a father?" Ino asked scrubbing away at Sakura's feet.

They heard the door open but just thought it was just Ami checking on them.

Sakura closed her eyes and smiled. "He is amazing. He is an amazing cook. He is an amazing father to our children. He is still a top level shinobi. He is so loving and protective of his family." Sakura said thoughtfully. "And oh my god his face! He is gorgeous!" Sakura laughed softly.

"You're going to make me blush Sakura." A deep voice said.

Sakura and Ino's heads jerked towards the voice and their eyes widened. Kakashi's breath caught. He saw her new clean look. 'She looks beautiful.' He thought to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to the few reviewers I have! I finally get a little bit of time off of work so I can update!**

**Hope you like it!**

**I do not own Naruto.**

Ino looked up to her friend, ready for her to break down at any moment with the sudden visit of what was her 'husband'.

"Hello Kakashi. Did you come to join our sleep over? Ino is amazing at giving pedis." Sakura said with a shaky voice.

"As much as I would love that, I came to see you. Tsunade said it might be helpful for your recovery if I visit you with someone else present so you can get used to me in this role as opposed to what our situation was in the genjutsu." He explained while sitting down next to her.

"So you were saying that I was amazing at everything?" Kakashi said with a chuckle.

Sakura looked down at her feet which were currently in Ino's hands. Tears started falling down her face into her lap. "I really miss him. He would be here for me right now. He would help me get through this." Sakura began to sob.

Ino was ready to jump to comfort her friend but Kakashi beat her to it. Kakashi wrapped his arm around Sakura and pulled her into him. Sakura welcomed the comfort, neither of them caring if it was a step in the wrong direction. Right now this is what she needed. He held her close while she cried into his shoulder. He rubbed her back whispering that it would ok.

He didn't know how long they had sat there.

Kakashi looked down at Sakura. Her cries diminished into smooth breathing. She had successfully cried herself to sleep. Kakashi lifted her gently into his lap and then stood up.

Ino understood what he was doing and quickly got to her feet and led him to the bedroom. She pulled down the covers. Kakashi laid her down gently and Ino tucker her in. They both walked out of the room and closed the door half way.

Kakashi sat back down on the couch and Ino sat across from him in the chair.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." Ino said defeated. "I guess it was wrong for me to expect she'd be the same old Sakura." Ino dropped her head into her hands.

"She has changed quite a bit it seems. But when you think about it, she lived almost 10 years of her life in that genjutsu. Everyone is different when they have grown that much." Kakashi tried to rationalize.

"I guess so. So you're saying we are dealing with a 27 year old Sakura in an 18 year old Sakura's body." Ino looked up from her hands.

"I believe so." Kakashi ran his hand through his hair. 'Life is never easy' He thought to himself.

They sat quietly for a few moments.

"Ino" Kakashi broke the silence

"hm"

"What was it like?"

Ino eyed him in confusion "What was what like?"

Kakashi thought about his question. "What was her life like? You got to see it during your jutsu right?"

Ino smiled sadly "I only got to see two days while I was trying to contact her. She had a wonderful life. She was so content. You two were so happy together…..Words can't describe your family. You really were an amazing husband and loving father from the time I saw. You were so in sync with each other in everything I saw you do together. Obito and little Ino were precious to both of you."

Ino paused for a moment. She looked Kakashi right in the eyes and continued. "And in the last moments of the genjutsu before she passed out, when you came to save her, the look in both of your eyes was enough to make me cry. I can understand why she wouldn't want to let go of that life. It was a life worth dying for."

Kakashi nodded his agreement 'I had always wanted to eventually settle down and have a family. And here was someone else living my dream for me. Granted it was Genjutsu induced living, but still….it makes me kind of uneasy.' He thought to himself.

Kakashi stood up. "Well, I need to get going and report back to the Hokage on our meeting and how she dealt with it." He said walking to the door.

"I'll walk you out. I'm going to go for a walk. Clear my head a little and reevaluate how to approach this." Ino said following him.

They stopped at Ami's desk to let her know they were leaving for a bit and that Sakura was resting.

They walked quietly down the road. When it came to when they needed to part ways they said their goodbyes.

"Ino" Kakashi said with her back to her.

"Yes Kakashi?" Ino turned to him.

"Thank you. For taking care of Sakura."

Ino smiled to herself. "Kakashi, do you think you could do me a favor? I'd like the Hokage to run some tests to see where her age falls."

Kakashi was confused "She's 18 isn't she?" He turned to face her

"Yes. But as we discussed, physically she is 18. But mentally we aren't so sure. Lady Hokage has tests she can run to verify the mental status of a patient."

"Alright. I'll pass on your request." Kakashi said, waving his hand at her and turning to walk away.

Ino walked until the sun started setting. She was still unsure how to bring her friend out of this.

'Maybe Naruto could help lift her spirits!' Ino sprinted off towards said blonde's apartment.

Kakashi entered the Hokage's office. Tsunade didn't need to look up from her desk to know who it was.

"Kakashi. You're late." She said, continuing to review the paperwork Shizune continued to place in front of her.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and chuckled "Ya, well that's what I'm here to discuss. I got held up at Sakura's."

With the mention of her apprentice's name, she put down the pen and looked up at the silver haired ninja.

"So you can tell the truth, huh? So what happened?" Tsunade pulled out a bottle of sake and 2 cups.

She filled both cups and offered one to Kakashi who waved his hand to politely decline.

"She broke down, but not in the way we thought she would." He explained

"How so?" Tsunade asked, wanting more detail.

"Well, I honestly believe she understands this is not her life from the genjutsu. Sometimes she talks about it like it's her current life but that she catches herself before anyone has to correct her. But one thing is for certain, she knows I am not the Kakashi from that life. But that doesn't make it any less painful for her to see me. I'm like a constant reminder of the perfect life she had that she worked hard for. She broke down saying 'I miss him'. When I was sitting right next to her. She ended up crying herself to sleep. Which brings me to our next topic." He paused

"And what would that be?" She raised her eye brow.

"After having a discussion with Ino, even though Sakura is physically 18 still, we believe she has actually lived the 9 years in her life. Ino requested you run tests to confirm her suspicion that Sakura is a 27 year old on the inside. She didn't give me any details, but said there were different tests you could do and that you would know what she was talking about." Kakashi looked to her.

"Hhhmm. That is something to think about. I admit that it crossed my mind. I wanted to give Sakura the opportunity to heal more before I did that but perhaps Ino is right. If Sakura's 'brain' has advanced in ways that Sakura's body hasn't been able to yet, she may react to therapy differently than she would have 3 months ago, or even a year ago before the genjutsu. And if that is the case, perhaps she has new medical jutsus from her experiences in the genjutsu that could lead to different and better treatments."

"I agree. I believe it is completely possible for her to actually feel she lived that long, even after waking up." Kakashi paused. He had a firm look of concentration on his face.

"You know? Now that I think about it, I experienced something similar when I fought Itachi years ago and was put under a genjutsu. He tortured me for days with that. And when he released it, I still felt as though I had been tortured for days." Kakashi finished with a dangerous tone in his voice.

Tsunade's eyes opened wide in shock.

"You don't think…did Sasuke?...I'LL KILL HIM!" Tsunade screamed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry fellow fanfictioners. I am opening a new store in my current district which means major time constraints until I get them up and running. 14 hour days have not been missed :/**

**I don't own Naruto**

"Lady Hokage calm down!" Kakashi tried to settle her down.

"SHIZUNE GET IN HERE!" She bellowed

Shizune ran in the room. "Yes Tsunade!"

"Shizune I need you to get that little rat bastard to my office so I can skin him alive!" Tsunade slammed her fist down on the desk and all the paperwork she was working on scattered.

Shizune's brow furrowed in a bit of confusion. She was unsure what 'little rat bastard' Tsunade was talking about. She turned to look at Kakashi for maybe a hint.

"Shizune, don't go anywhere yet." Kakashi said in a calm tone. "We need to figure out if that is in fact what happened first, and why he did it before we skin anyone."

"I'LL KILL HIM FOR HURTING SAKURA LIKE THAT! I DON'T CARE WHY HE DID IT!" Tsunade yelled.

"We need to come up with a plan first Lady Hokage." Kakashi insisted.

"PLAN MY ASS! I'LL BEAT HIM TO A PULP!" Tsunade yelled some more.

Kakashi squeezed the bridge of his nose, showing a bit of frustration. "Lady Hokage, I think Shizune will agree with me when I say that we need to find out what Sasuke wanted with Sakura. If we fail to do that, we may miss what he might be planning against Konoha." He said in disbelief that he had to explain this to his own Hokage.

'She's acting like an unreasonable child…no I take that back, an unreasonable mother.' He thought to himself.

Tsunade finally sat down. "What do you propose we do Kakashi?" She said in a gruff voice.

Kakashi sighed deeply. "Well, for now keep him away from Sakura until she recovers a little bit mentally. I think the easiest thing would be to talk her into helping us since he seems to want nothing to do with anything but her."

Tsunade nodded, tapping her finger on the desk. "I'll agree on the part of waiting until she recovers a bit. We'll discuss the rest later. You are dismissed for now. Please let Ino know I will set up the tests she requested."

"Thank you Lady Hokage." Kakashi said standing and walking towards the door.

"Shizune" Tsunade said sitting back in her seat and sighing deeply.

"Yes Tsunade-sama." Shizune moved towards the desk.

"Sasuke requested that we inform him of Sakura's condition. So far we have kept him in the dark. I want you to inform him that she has awoken from her coma and is currently recovering in segregation. If he asks about her or if she has asked for him, simply tell him that only the Hokage herself and Ibiki is allowed access at this time due to the nature of the coma still being unknown and that no other contact with Sakura has been approved at this time." Tsunade paused for a moment. "That should ruffle his feathers enough for now." She went back to doing her paperwork. "Dismissed"

Shizune didn't need to be told twice. She made her way over to where Sasuke was currently being held.

Sakura woke up in her bed. Unsure of how she got there. She decided to lie in bed got a bit, wondering what she was going to do now. This life she knows nothing about. She felt embarrassed that she broke down in front of Kakashi like that, but it was so hard to see him and not be able to hold him or kiss him….

Sakura sighed loudly to herself "I guess the only thing to do is to move on." She said to no one in particular. She reached up above her head and pressed the button Ami set out for her.

'First thing I need to do is pick my therapy plan' she thought.

Ami walked in the room a few moments later. "Why hello Sakura. What can I do for you?"

"Could you get my chair and help me up. I need to look at that list of therapists." She asked quietly.

"Sure thing!" Ami said very energetically. "It's almost dinner time. Do you want anything special?" Ami asked, leaving the room for a moment to get Sakura's wheelchair.

"Um….I think I'd actually like beef ramen from Ichiraku." Sakura said quietly as she was lifted from the bed and placed in her chair.

"Alright. Can you get yourself into the other room? Or do you need my help?" Ami asked.

'Someone must have told her how much I hate people assuming I need help.' Sakura thought to herself as she reached down to the wheels and tried to get herself moving, but the weight of herself and the chair combined proved too much for her fragile arms. She tried putting chakra into her arms when she felt Ami give her a small push.

"Oh no you don't. You aren't allowed to be using chakra for that kind of stuff yet until we get your reserves built back up. I gave you a small push, and you can take it from there." Ami walked past her out the doorway.

"Sorry" Sakura muttered and gave it her all to push the chair while she had the forward momentum from Ami's push. She got the chair moving…slowly. But at least it was moving and it was progress.

She got most of the way to the table where she wanted to be, but it was finally too much work for her poor little arms to take. "Ami?" Sakura left the question unasked.

Ami could see the girl only had a few more feet to go but looked exhausted. She knew Sakura tried her best. "Oh! I didn't think you'd make it out here that fast. Let me get you positioned close to the table so you don't hit your legs doing it yourself."

Ami got Sakura positioned against the table and slid the folder with all Sakura's records over to her. "You want to look at the packet that is paper clipped together. It is in order of what Lady Hokage wants accomplished. First order of business is picking your therapist." Ami paused for a moment as Sakura picked up the packet. Sakura's brow furrowed in irritation. "Both kinds of therapists." Ami finished.

"I'll go grab your food while you look over everyone's credentials." Ami stated as she got up from the table. Sakura simply nodded without saying a word.

'Why didn't I look here first?' Ino thought to herself as she arrived at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. She had gone to his apartment where there was no Naruto in site. She went to Team 7's training grounds where there was no Naruto. She went to the Hokage monument and yet again, no Naruto. So she decided to go to the Hokage tower where she ran into Kakashi just as he was leaving. He told Ino to try the ramen stand. She rolled her eyes at herself. She invited Kakashi to grab some lunch with dinner with her but he declined. Saying something about formulating a plan.

She walked in, spotting the blonde she was looking for. "Good afternoon Ayame, Teuchi." Ino said as she entered and sat down next to Naruto who was currently shoving his face full of ramen.

"Hello Ino-san!" Ayame greeted her graciously, Teuchi nodded in greeting as he kept at his cooking. "What can we get you today?"

"Um, just a small bowl of pork ramen please." Ino said with a smile and Ayame went to prepare her order.

"Hey Ino! What are you doing here? I never thought you like ramen." Naruto stopped shoving his face for a moment to question her.

"I never hated it, but I don't want to end up looking like Choji either." Ino responded. Naruto looked at her dumbfounded that anyone could say anything bad about ramen.

"Ugh, never mind. Anyway, I came here looking for you. I have some news about Sakura." Ino couldn't finish her sentence because she was promptly interrupted by the loudmouth.

"IS SHE OK? DID SHE WAKE UP YET? PLEASE TELL ME SHE'S OK! OUCH!" Naruto was quieted by Ino hitting him on the head.

"Baka, stop shouting. I was just about to tell you that it is top secret. But being as you're a member of her team, I need your help. But you need to be quiet about it. I'll take you there once I'm done eating. Ok?" Ino questioned as Ayame placed a bowl of ramen in front of her. "Thank you Ayame" Ino said smiling at the girl.

"Good afternoon Ayame!" a female voice behind them said.

"Oh hello Ami-san, I haven't seen you in a while. What can I get for you?" Ayame asked.

"I'd like 2 bowls of beef ramen to go please. I am taking them back to the hospital for my patient." Ami said.

"Of course, have a seat and they'll be right up." Ayame said turning to prepare the meal.

Ino turned to see Sakura's nurse sitting beside them.

"Hello Ino, Naruto. How are you both doing?" Ami asked them.

"Hi Ami. We were just about to go to visit Sakura. I won't go into the details right now, because of it being top secret, but I will brief you on mine and Kakashi's visit when we get back to Sakura's room. Kakashi should be meeting us there in a little bit." Ino informed Ami.

"I actually saw him on my way over here. He's going to wait for us outside the hospital. Would you two like to walk me back?" Ami said as Ayame was setting a bag on the counter for her.

"Here let me get that for you." Naruto said with a smile, carrying the bag for Ami.

"Thank you very much. Just put all 3 dinners on the hospital tab Ayame." Ami said bowing slightly in thanks.

All 3 turned and walked towards the hospital.

They all walked in once they picked up Kakashi from the front of the hospital.

"Go ahead in Naruto, we'll be in in a sec once Kakashi fills us in on the meeting with Lady Hokage." Ino said to Naruto as she shooed him into the room.

Naruto walked in to see Sakura resting her head on her arms on top of a table with papers strewn everywhere. He smiled to himself 'She's actually ok' he thought until he got closer to the table and saw she was in a wheelchair, then he was very concerned.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" He asked. Sakura's head shot up from the table with wide eyes.

"Naruto…." She said just above a whisper.

"Sakura-chan, are you ok? What happened?" He took a few steps closer.

She saw him looking at her legs, almost forgetting she was in a wheelchair.

"Oh, um, I was in a genjutsu induced coma type of thing and all of my muscles are weak right now. But don't worry, I'll be able to walk soon." She said, looking down at her legs in defeat.

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed as he wrapped his arms around his friend tightly.

Sakura squeezed him just as tightly.

The other 3 entered the room now to see this sight. And they all smiled.

Ami cleared her throat "Naruto, please do be careful with Sakura, she's not healed completely yet." Naruto let go of Sakura quickly, thinking he may break her. "And Sakura, I promised to leave you alone without a 'babysitter' as you put it, if you could pick your therapists by the time I got back. So let's have it, who are you picking?" Ami sat down next to her.

"I don't want anyone from this list." Sakura said plainly.

"Now come on Sakura, we had a deal. You have to pick." Ami said sternly.

"I did pick, I just don't want anyone from this list." Sakura said just as sternly back.

Ami sighed deeply, rolling her eyes "Ok then, who did you pick that's not on the list."

"Choji, and Gai-sensei." Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"You can't pick them. They aren't certified to help you in the ways you need help." Ami argued.

Sakura had had enough of this game. She was losing her temper and Kakashi could see it coming.

"Maybe you should lay off for a little bit Ami." Kakashi suggested.

"No, we had an agreement. Stop acting like a spoiled child Sakura." Ami demanded

That pushed Sakura over the edge. You could feel the buzz of chakra in the air.

"I DO NOT NEED A SHRINK. I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE OK? I KNOW THAT LIFE WASN'T REAL, AS MUCH AS I WANT IT TO BE! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR? I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO WHO ISNT GOING TO JUDGE ME. AND THAT SOMEONE IS CHOJI!" Sakura screamed, slamming her chakra infused fist down on the table, splintering it.

Sakura took a deep breath to cool down. "And Gai-sensei knows better than anyone how to get an injured shinobi back to their best. Look at what he did for Lee. I will not accept no for an answer here."

There was a long moment of silence. Finally Ami spoke up, "Fine. You stubborn mule."

**Ending it here. It's getting a bit long. Next chapter soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes I realize that it has been a looong time. But you know, I kind of do this as something to relax after work. But since I am a district manager and in charge of opening these new stores (yes, now there are multiple. Lol) my days have been incredibly long and I just haven't felt like staying awake to write my stories. And so, to my faithful followers, I really appreciate your reviews and I will do my best to make more time for you. I never thought that it would get to the point that people would actually enjoy ready my stories and I never thought anyone would be excited for the next chapters. THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

After a long night of talking with Naruto, Sakura was exhausted. She wished she had even a fraction of his energy. She frowned at herself at that thought.

'I always said that about Obito's energy as well' she thought to herself sadly, letting her head fall to the table. Sighing deeply at the realization at how hard this was going to be.

"What's wrong?" a voice said

Sakura's head jolted up, looking towards the doorway. Leaning against the doorway, Kakashi was looking at her concerned.

She stared at him, eyes unwavering. She could have sworn Ami walked everyone out of her apartment.

"What?" He asked slightly unnerved.

"Don't look at me like that Kakashi." Sakura said with slight frustration, letting her head fall into her hands.

"Like what? I didn't know I could give anyone any sort of look with just a quarter of my face showing." Kakashi said, pushing himself off the doorway and slowly making his way over by her.

Sakura snorted loudly. "You know exactly what look I'm talking about. And don't sell yourself short. You express more emotion than you think out of that small section of your face that you deem worthy to show the world. The person you're showing it to just has to be observant enough to see it." She finally took her head out of her hands and looked to Kakashi.

"So what is it? Spit it out." Sakura said plainly.

"Do you want some tea? I'll make it." Kakashi offered, motioning to the kitchen.

Sakura smiled at the offer. "I'd love some, thank you." She said softly. Her question still unanswered.

While she was waiting for him to finish the tea, she decided to take a moment to fill in her medical file with how she felt throughout the day. Making sure to input as much detail as possible.

Kakashi finally entered the room and sat her cup in front of her. She wrapped her hands around it and let it warm her.

"So what was it you were concerned about Kakashi? You can't avoid the question by making me tea." Sakura said bringing the cup up to her lips to take a sip.

Kakashi chuckled. "You're not as easy to fool as you were before."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Sakura said with a big smile, her eyes sparkling with a matureness he hadn't seen before.

Kakashi scratched his head. "I was just worried. You looked like you were struggling with something." Kakashi paused, leaving it open for discussion but not wanting to push. A cornered Sakura never ends well.

Sakura took another sip of her tea. There was a long moment of silence. "Ya…. I am. Struggling with a lot of things…" She said quietly with a haunted look in her face

"What's bothering you?" Kakashi offered

Sakura looked him in the eye. Trying to evaluate his motive for this sudden talk.

Sakura reached over across the table and squeezed his hand "I appreciate your concern Kakashi, but none of this is your issue. Choji will come and talk to me tomorrow. I can wait until then." Sakura said with sadness obvious in her voice.

Before Sakura could pull her hand away, Kakashi put his other hand on hers. She could feel the warmth his hands absorbed from the tea mug.

She looked away, unwilling to let her heart break anymore today.

"Sakura" Kakashi's voice boomed in contrast to the silence.

"Hm" She said hoping to deflect the sudden attention.

"Sakura look at me." Kakashi commanded

Their eyes met once again. Sakura's unsure and cautious, Kakashi's confident and caring.

"The Sakura I knew would have jumped at the chance to run down the entirety of what was going on in her life." Kakashi said eyes unblinking.

"I can't bring that Sakura back." Sakura said, her voice wavering.

Kakashi sat back, removing his hands from hers, and stood. Sakura looked up at him unsure of what was happening. Had she chased him away? Was he upset with her?

Kakashi grabbed both of their tea mugs and headed back to the kitchen. He returned with refilled cups and sat them on the table by the couch. Kakashi walked over to her and motioned towards the couch.

She pushed away from the table the best she could. Kakashi grabbed the handles of the chair and rolled her to the couch. He locked her in place and leaned down to her. She lifted her arms around his neck as he lifted her and placed her on the couch. He bent over, pulling the table with tea as close to her as possible and then sat down on the cushion next to her.

He waited until she met his eyes again. "Sakura…." He paused "I can't begin to understand what you are going through. But I want you to know that I am here for you. Not as your old sensei, or as your team mate. I'm here as your friend to make sure you get through this. If you ever need anything, anything at all. I am here."

Sakura smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. Here in front of her was the man she fell in love with so many years ago…..in her dream life.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Obito" Sakura said quietly, whipping the tears from her eyes. "He was such a good kid. He grew up so smart." She choked out a laugh.

"But he was so clueless with some things. He had always been so caring for other people, especially little Ino. And he always did everything he could to make you smile. Sometimes he was so goofy, and he was overly energetic… He reminds me so much of Naruto." She took in a deep breath.

"I was just thinking about how I wish I had even a fraction of Naruto's energy that I could probably be on my feet in days. And it made me think back to how often I said that about Obito…If I just had a fraction of his energy…." She wiped a few more tears away.

Kakashi sat silently. Waiting for her to continue if she wanted.

She was sniffling a little.

"Would you mind grabbing me a tissue." She asked sniffling again.

"Sure." Kakashi responded, standing and walking over to the table and grabbing the tissues. He placed them in front of her and sat back down.

She grabbed a few tissues and blew her nose. And turned to face Kakashi, pulling her legs up and tucking them beside her.

"There are just so many things that remind me of that life constantly. Naruto's energy reminding me of Obito. How little Ino looks just like real Ino. How your being the kind, caring person you weren't exactly known to be when we were kids…reminding me of the man I fell in love with and started a family with."

She had calmed down considerably now.

"I just feel out of place here. Not just in this apartment, in this life. When I was a teenager, I had to constantly prove to you, Sasuke, Naruto and the rest of the Konoha 11 that I was on par with you boys. That I didn't need anyone's help. When you and I got close, in my other life, you helped me get over that childishness. You got me to a point where I understood my worth and I wasn't too proud to ask for help. Now I feel like I took a huge leap backwards and I am going to regress into that person again. I'm worried that I got so used to have you as my support, that I'll be lost."

There was silence and then Sakura busted out laughing.

"What?" Kakashi said very confused.

"I sound so ridiculous! Listen to me feeling sorry for myself." She said as she kept laughing.

"Sakura, it's not ridiculous if it's the way you feel." Kakashi offered comfort.

Sakura finished her tea. And set down the cup. "Well, Choji is going to be by early to start my counseling. And Gai-sensei will be coming after that….." Sakura paused, unsure if this was appropriate to ask Kakashi.

"Would you mind…helping me into bed?" it sounded so stupid once it was out of her mouth.

"Wow that makes me sound stupid. I'll ask Ami, I am sooooo sorry." Sakura said, her cheeks suddenly stained with a little pink.

"It's fine Sakura, really. You just have to ask, and I'll always be here to help you with anything." Kakashi responded. Waiving his hand as to dismiss her worries.

He got up, pushed the table away from the couch, and leaned over Sakura. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up and walked her back to the bedroom, holding her tightly. He leaned over slightly, turning on the light on the night stand, he pulled the covers back and placed Sakura on the bed.

He went to stand up but Sakura was still holding on to him tightly around his neck. She turned to look at him, their noses touching, their lips so close they could feel the warmth of each other's breath. His heart skip a beat.

"Thank you Kakashi. For everything." Sakura said, pulling him even closer into a hug.

"It means a lot to me." She whispered into his ear.

The feeling of her breath in his ear sent electricity down his spine.

"You're welcome." He said quietly. He moved to stand, this time Sakura let him straighten.

"I'll see you." He said as he turned, raising his hand to wave goodbye.

"Bye" She said just above a whisper.

**And done!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This is a little bit of a filler chapter to set up Sasuke coming into the fic….which I wasn't entirely sure how to do. But I'll make sure to write a bit longer of a chapter to make up for it.**

**I just wanted to take a moment to say something quickly. I am not one to beg for reviews. And although I get very excited when I get a few and I appreciate people taking the time to leave them, It doesn't matter to me if they are there or not because I will keep writing either way. I see when people add my story to their alerts or favorites and that's really what keeps me going.**

**If you are going to leave a review with constructive criticism, I read it and try to implement it. But let's all be honest with each other, this is a HOBBY. Something that I do to relax when I actually have time to relax. I am not going to go back into my stories and change something just because you might not like it or it could be better. I believe that the majority of my readers would rather me spend my time writing a new chapter instead of going all the way through my entire story and making corrections. I would never finish my stories that way. Maybe when the story is complete I will go through and fix things, but until then you will just have to deal with it. And if that means I 'lose a potential reader' for a story, oh well. I don't lose sleep over it.**

Shizune walked towards the Interrogation building. She had sent ahead and scheduled to meet Ibiki before talking to Sasuke. Although she was very close with Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi (as close as anyone can be with Kakashi.) she had never met Sasuke. From what she understood, Sasuke was a 'chick magnet' as one would say. He was arrogant, cruel at times, and had a god complex. He defected from Konoha to pursue revenge. But most importantly, he broke Sakura and Naruto's heart.

When you ask Sakura about him today though, she wants nothing to do with him. This at times offends Naruto, who was still passionate about bringing his 'brother' home. Sakura realizes she wasn't in love with the Uchiha, but she can't deny that she wouldn't be where she is today had he not left her on that cold bench that night. Naruto may have possibly still trained under Jaryia, but Sakura may never had sot out Tsunade and realized her full potential.

It was for those reasons Shizune was uneasy about this meeting with Sasuke.

Ibiki waved to Shizune as she approached his building.

"Good morning Ibiki-san" Shizune said with a smile.

"Shizune-san" Ibiki said gruffly, in his own way of greeting. "What's the game plan?"

"If you would like to show me to your office, we can discuss the surprise party farther." Shizune said with a big smile. Obviously fake to Ibiki. But either way he got the point, this was top-secret.

"Of course, we wouldn't want anyone to overhear and ruin the surprise and all of our hard work." Ibiki replied, showing no emotion on his face.

His eyes scanned the area before he turned to lead Shizune into the building and to his office.

Neither said anything while Ibiki lead her through an expansive range of curvy hallways. She heard their steps on the hard rock flooring. Shizune frowned as she listened a bit closer to the sounds their shoes made.

"Ibiki?" She asked to the made beside her. He didn't respond, just looking over at her.

"Why do you wear such loud shoes?" She inquired.

"Everyone who works in this building wears them." He said plainly.

"Ok…. But why? Wouldn't you want to be quiet and stealthy when walking up to the rooms you are interrogating people in?" She looked over at the tall intimidating man.

He chuckled "Most would think that." He paused, looking over at her. "Fear is a great friend to an interrogator. Imagine being horribly tortured, then being left alone in a dark quiet room, then imagine being able to hear the footsteps of someone, possibly the person who is torturing you, slowly coming towards the door. Imagine what must go through someone's mind."

He stopped and opened a door, motioning Shizune inside. "A major part of training to be in this squad isn't about the physical torture, but being able to mentally torture someone. And it also has purpose since everyone wears the same shoes. If I hear someone approaching my office that doesn't sound like one of my guys, it could potentially be a prisoner escaped or an enemy-nin infiltrating the base."

Shizune took a seat when Ibiki motioned to it. "That makes sense. I never thought of it like that, thank you for your explanation Ibiki-san." Shizune said with a warm smile on her face.

"So, about this surprise party?" Ibiki said while he activated a jutsu to block out any prying ears.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama has sent me to meet with Sasuke. As I'm sure you heard from your informants in the hospital, Sakura has finally awoken and is staying at the hospital while she recovers." Shizune explained.

"Yes, my team has informed me. I am certainly glad she was able to pull through; she is an asset to this village. What did you need me for?" Ibiki inquired.

Shizune sighed loudly, running a hand down her face. "Well, I'm not sure really. I believe I need your involvement, though Tsunade hasn't specifically requested it. You know how she can get when it comes to Sakura, I don't think she is thinking clearly. There is some potential information that I would like to run by you that I overheard Tsunade and Kakashi discussing this morning."

"Ok then, let's hear it." Ibiki advised her to continue.

"Obviously Sakura wasn't so much in a coma. She was just under a very powerful genjutsu. When she woke up, we came to discover that she lived 9 years in the genjutsu. She seems different, more mature… And there could be more, we haven't had a chance to evaluate her. She's still too weak and we don't want to push her until she's a little stronger." She paused

"I am concerned however, that Sasuke has something to do with this." She gave Ibiki a stern look.

"Interesting." Ibiki responded with a booming voice. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Kakashi mentioned that he went through a similar experience as Sakura when he fought Itachi. What was merely a few seconds in a genjutsu were actually days of being tortured by Itachi. With that information, we can confirm that the Sharingan can accomplish such a genjutsu. And with Sasuke the one who 'found' Sakura and brought her back to the village, the same village need I remind you that he tried to destroy. I don't believe in coincidences." She said crossing her arms. "But what could he possibly want Sakura for."

"It's a very good question. One with many possible answers. I'll be glad to help you figure this out Shizune. But for now, let's get in to see the Uchiha." Ibiki stood

"Thank you Ibiki-san" Shizune smiled warmly at him as she stood and headed towards the door with him.

; ; ; ;

He heard footsteps approaching the door. Two sets… one definatly didn't work here. The shoes sounded different. He heard the click of the outer door.

He heard the keys clanking, unlocking his prison. The blindfold kept him from seeing anything or activating his Sharingan.

"Uchiha-Sasuke. You have a visitor." A booming voice said.

"You're not Sakura Haruno." Sasuke said very dully.

"No I am not." Shizune said quietly

"You may go then." Sasuke turned away from them.

"As you wish. You requested that you were to be informed when Sakura woke up. I only came to inform you that she has woken up and is currently recovering." Shizune responded.

"Did she ask for me?" Sasuke suddenly showed interest, his head turning quickly towards Shizune's direction.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but only Kakashi was in the room when she woke up. So I am not sure what happened in the moments immediately following her waking up." Shizune said, skillfully avoiding saying too much.

"I want to speak with the Hokage." He said seething.

"I will make sure to make an appointment for you Sasuke." Shizune said kindly

"I need to see Sakura; I need to talk to her. Can you bring her here?" He said with desperation beginning to leak into his voice.

"I apologize Sasuke but she has not been approved for release from the hospital yet. Standard protocol with coma patience is to stay in the hospital for a week after they wake up to ensure their body and mind is still healthy. But I will make sure Lady Hokage hears your request for a meeting." Shizune said in response, turning on her heel to leave.

"I WANT TO SEE SAKURA!" Sasuke screamed. Shizune flinched at the sudden intrusion on her ears.

"Mr. Uchiha" Shizune said very sternly, walking right up to his blind folded face "I don't believe you are in any position to be making demands. Especially considering you tried to destroy our village. And believe me, that is STILL fresh in everyone's mind. Maybe you should take this time to learn some patience. If you even know the meaning of the word."

Sasuke was shaking visibly in anger. Shizune decided to take this game just one step farther.

She leaned down to Sasuke's ear and whispered. "I'm sure my good friend Ibiki-san would be more than happy to teach you if you'd like." A smirk finding its way onto her face.

"GET OUT!" he screamed "GET OUT NOW!" he lunged towards her as she walked away, the chains stopping him.

"AAAAHHHH!" He screamed some more.

"As you wish." She responded, satisfaction latent in her voice. "Ibiki-san, would you mind showing me out?" she turned to the large man.

"Absolutely Shizune, this way." He said, following her out the door.

He turned to her as they walked down the hallway "You know, we are always looking for a medic to join our team if you are ever interested."

Shizune laughed loudly. "I'll consider it."


	9. Chapter 9

**Oh finally I get to write another chapter! I missed you guys so much! Sorry for the very very very late update. I got married, went on a cruise and then came back to work only to find out I had gotten promoted. So much work to be done. But since I finally have a free moment over memorial day weekend.**

**This chapter will be mostly filler on building the friendship between Sakura and Choji. I'll try to make this a little longer to make up or the lack of updates. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! **

Sakura laughed very light heartedly as Choji finished telling her a story of one of his many botched attempts to show Ino his feelings for her. It honestly felt good to be able to forget everything that has happened and just have a good talk with a good friend. Not that talking to Ino wasn't fun, but with Choji it was…..an equal opportunity conversation.

The conversation started off awkwardly, but after Sakura started telling Choji about her genjutsu life, he eventually got more comfortable. Mostly being surprised that the Ino, in that life, actually gave him a chance. Hence, why they were both laughing now at his stories.

Sakura wiped the tears from her face that came from laughing so hard and she looked over at Choji. "She'll notice you Choji. You just have to wait it out. She's still working on what her ideal 'forever' man is."

It was then Choji got a very serious look on his face.

"Choji? What's that face for? What's wrong?" Sakura inquired, worried about her friend.

"Ino…" He paused to sigh. "When you came back in a coma, she was devastated. She's just been throwing herself at any guy that looks her way. It was her way of dealing drowning her sorrows I guess. None of those guys deserved her, and it broke me every time I saw her with someone else. When you finally woke up…. She came to me crying." He stopped for a moment.

Sakura reached over and squeezed his shoulder to encourage him to go on with his story.

"She was elated that you had finally woke up, but she was worried that she wouldn't fit into your life anymore. She said you had changed, that you weren't the same Sakura as before. And she's right in the fact that you have changed. But she's wrong also. You are the same Sakura as you have always been, worrying about other people rather than worrying about getting yourself up to strength again." At that Choji chuckled. "I am definitely not giving up on Ino now. I might need your help though." Choji looked up at his pink haired friend with a smile.

"Deal!" Sakura laughed and held out her hand to Choji to shake on it, which he gladly accepted.

They both turned when they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in. It's open." Sakura shouted

Sakura's smile widened as she saw the green beast of Konoha enter her living space.

"Good afternoon Gai! Sakura said excitedly.

"Hello Sakura! Are you ready to start your training and get back to your youthful self?" Gai said with his trademark thumbs up and smile.

'It is really unnatural how white is teeth always are…' Sakura thought to herself with a chuckle.

"I sure am. You are just the man I've been waiting to see." Sakura gave him a wide smile and turned back to Choji.

"Sorry to cut this short Choji. Thank you so much for taking me on as a mission. I know it's probably going to suck not being able to go out in the field." Sakura said with sympathy in her eyes. She honestly felt bad for the boy having to drop everything to help her.

"Don't worry about it Sakura. Really. Gai-sensei, me, Naruto and Ino are going to get you through this no matter what." He reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

Choji got up and began walking towards the door to show himself out.

"Oh Choji!" Sakura yelled after him before he closed the door. He opened it back up without saying anything.

"Can you ask Ami to have some patient files ready for me after training today? I'm going a little crazy with nothing to do." Sakura looked at him sheepishly.

"Sure thing Sak, see ya later." Choji stepped out.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the nickname she had suddenly gotten. Honestly no one had called her that since she was a child.

'I guess it's better than forehead' she thought to herself.

"So Gai, what's on the agenda for today?" Sakura asked very hopeful. Honestly she hadn't been so excited to see Gai before. She knew he would push her hard and it would, at times, seem impossible to move on. But she knew that in the end, he would get her there faster than anyone else could.

"Today, I am going to evaluate your condition!" Gai said very excitedly.

Sakura visibly deflated. She was expecting more than that, although from a medic's standpoint she understood having to have a good understanding of your patient's condition before proceeding with any sort of procedure or therapy.

Gai noticed her glum face.

"Don't worry youthful Sakura! The faster we get done, the faster we can start your training!" Gai reached over and ruffled her hair.

"Lets get started then" Sakura said with a roll of her eyes. Gai could fray anyone's nerves with his infinite enthusiasm, but she knew that he was the best for the job at hand. If anyone could get her back to normal, he would, and he wouldn't stop until he did. Look what he did for Lee. And for that fact alone, she held a lot of respect for the man.

It had been a long week. Between Choji talking to her in the morning, and him helping her move her limbs around to prepare for Gai's "therapy", and then Gai in the afternoon spending hours training with her until she would collapse in exhaustion, then letting her rest a bit, then training until she collapsed again…..she was exhausted.

Gai would hang around after training and get her a high protein snack and then would make sure she made it to bed ok. Sakura was typically sleeping, dead to the world, even before he made it out of her apartment.

Every day when she would wake up and every day that she was finished training with Gai, she would have several messages from Ami saying someone tried to visit. Typically it was Ino, but occasionally she'd she a note from Naruto or Kakashi.

Naruto was already asking if she was well enough to spar, eager to get his teammate back. And Ino just wanted to have girl time. She had asked about a movie night/sleep over and even a shopping date. But unfortunately, her first priority was getting better. Mentally and Physically. And she was sure her friends would understand.

Currently she was lying back on the couch, with Choji at the other end. His back was against the armrest and he has Sakura's feet in his grip, her legs bent at the knees. Sakura was using his arms as a sort of resistance, and was pushing her feet forward into his hands and he would push back. This was really helping get her muscles ready and warmed up for when Gai showed up and ran her into the ground.

Choji let out a deep laugh at one of the notes Sakura was reading him that Naruto left her. In the note, Naruto was telling Sakura that she should eat more Ramen, that it would give her more strength and help her heal faster. And although Sakura knew that, yes the MEAT in the ramen Naruto was referring to would indeed giver her more energy, it wouldn't give her strength per say and it definitely wouldn't help her heal faster. And it most certainly was not healthy.

She set that note down on the table next to her, laughing loudly. She really came to cherish her time with Choji. They never really talked much about the genjutsu. They never really had to. He was her rock, he gave her strength in her weaker moments. He was content to just talk about normal every day things and so was she. It gave her some much needed normalcy in her life.

She grabbed the next note and opened it. A soft smile came to her face as she began to read it out loud.

"Sakura, I hope everything is well. I hear from Ami that your training sessions are going very good and that you are making great progress. I hope we can hang out soon! I wanted to see about getting you some decorations for your apartment. We never had a chance to talk about what kind of décor you were into now.

Oh! And I can NOT wait to tell you about what happened to me this morning. Someone sent me flowers and had the cutest poem written in it. But they didn't write their name on the card!

I'll tell you more about it later. Ami is giving me the look, you know the one where she wants me to go away because I'm disturbing her work. Yes, that one.

Have a great day! – Ino"

Sakura lowered the note down and looked a Choji with a questioning look.

"Flowers and poetry? That's all you could think up?" She asked him.

"Well, to be fair Sakura, I said I needed your help." Choji said with a chuckle.

Sakura smiled at him, putting the note down. "Yes, apparently you need more help than you originally lead on." She laughed with him.

They both turned their heads when they heard a knock on the door. It was far too early for Gai to be there. They still had 2 hours or more together before Gai should be there since today was her day to take it easy and recover with some easier therapy, he might even be later than that. And even then, typically Ami escorted him into the room. Ami always announced herself after knocking.

Choji sensed her unease and set her feet down on the couch. He stood up and made his way over to the door. He opened it slowly, revealing the unexpected visitor.

Sakura stayed lying on the couch, not wanting to move. She was still very sore from yesterday. And at the off chance that this may be a trap and they were about to be ambushed by enemy nin, she would need to stay out of the way seeing as she was practically useless still.

"Good afternoon Kakashi-sensei." She heard Choji say. "Let me see if she is up for a visit."

She smiled, she hadn't seen Kakashi the entire time she had been training with Gai.

"Sakura" Choji yelled from the doorway. "Kakashi-sensei is here, you up for a visit or do you want him to come back?"

"Let him in" She yelled back.

She waited patiently on the couch for them to walk into the room. She smiled to herself when she saw Kakashi's silver hair coming towards the couch.

"Hey Kakashi. I haven't seen you in a while. What's up?" Sakura said looking over at him.

"Don't go blaming me for the lack of my presence, you were always sleeping when I came to see you." Kakashi said with a smile.

When she came into view, Kakashi looked her over. She was lying on her back on the couch. Her messy hair pulled up into a pony tail was sprawled out around her head. She was wearing a tank top and a very short pair of shorts. She looked healthier to him. Her legs and arms looked fuller, though you couldn't really see any muscle tone yet. But what could you expect after just a week of training.

"I actually came to see Choji. Lady Hokage requested to see him." Kakashi said "Sooner than later."

Choji gave a nod to Kakashi of understanding and looked to Sakura. "Think you'll be ok by yourself Sak? Or do you need me to get Ami until I get back?"

Sakura huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. "You know I hate that Choji. I'm going to start calling you Fatty if you don't stop. And yes I'll be fine. Go see what she wants, and tell her I said hi."

"Sure thing **SAK**." Choji said closing the door behind him before he could get something thrown at him. When he heard a thud on the other side of the door, he knew he had narrowly escaped a shoe.

When Kakashi saw her pick up a shoe of the floor next to her and throw it across the room, he had to admit he was quite impressed with her progress.

"Was that all?" Sakura said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

He looked down at Sakura again and saw her picking up her legs and putting them back down, alternating between the two of them and then both at the same time.

"Practicing?" Kakashi asked her with an eyebrow raised. "Or do you not get enough work with Gai, I can let him know to push you harder." Kakashi said with a smirk. He knew Gai was pushing Sakura as far as she could go. And he knew that Sakura was pushing as hard as she could.

"Are you kidding me? I'm surprised I can still walk after his trainings. That's why I'm always sleeping when everyone tries to visit. I work myself to the bone!" She said throwing her hands up in the air.

Kakashi laughed out loud at that. You could tell she loved training with Gai.

"I'm staying loose." Sakura said quietly, letting out a small sigh. "I've been getting painful muscle spasms now that I've gotten some muscle mass back."

Kakashi hummed back his understanding. He knew full well what it was like to be recovering and get a charley horse.

"Want to see what I can do so far?" Sakura asked excitedly, her green eyes brightening.

Kakashi smiled at her. "Of course"

"Ok, I need you to come over here and help me a little though. But only a little, and only when I tell you to. Ok?" She wasn't so much asking as she was demanding that he not demean her by helping when she didn't need help, but at the same time knowing she was going to need it and letting it be known that she wasn't going to be afraid to ask.

"Yes Sakura, no help unless you tell me." Kakashi chuckled.

Sakura smiled "Alright so come over here and kneel on the couch in front of my legs. Give me your hands and I'll pull myself up."

He did as she commanded. He knelt down in front of her feet and put out his hands for her to grab. She grabbed a hold of him but didn't start pulling.

"Ready?" She asked and he nodded in response.

She began pulling herself up, holding her breath. She was grunting with effort. She began shaking as she was pushing her muscles to their limit.

"Breathe Sakura." He reminded her.

She didn't yell. She nodded her understanding and started taking short breaths. Finally she had pulled herself into a sitting position. She took a couple deep breaths to slow her heart down.

She looked up at him and gave him a quick but absolutely beautiful smile.

"Are you ok?" Kakashi asked, still holding her hands for support until she got herself stable.

She nodded "Yes, now move the coffee table." She said out of breath.

He moved the table while she got herself turned on the couch so her legs were dangling off.

"So now I need you to bend over, I'll wrap my arms around your neck and you can pull me into a standing position. I'm not quite balanced enough to do that yet. Then you need to hold me around my waist. Take a step backwards and I'll take a step forward." She stated like she had done it a million times.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kakashi asked nervously.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. That's why you're holding me around my waist. There are times my legs cramp up and give out, but most of the time I'm fine. Just be ready to catch me, ok?"

He moved towards her like she instructed. When she wrapped her arms around his neck he could feel her breath against his ear. He stood back up with his arms around her waist like she wanted.

He waited until she was a little less wobbly and then loosened his grip a little as she loosened hers. He took a step back, she took a slow step forward, sticking out her tongue with effort. He took another step, and she followed. They did a whole circle around the couch before she looked up at him finally. Her face lighting up.

"Quite the progress you've made Sakura." He said still holding her. She tightened her grip around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"I'll be walking by myself before you know it!" She said very excitedly.

Right at that moment, Sakura's stomach let itself be known with a very loud growl. They both looked down.

Ami knocked and walked in the door at that moment. Sakura heard her laugh from behind her

"Showing off your skills again Sakura?" Ami asked.

Sakura blushed a little at the comment. She didn't want to burden anyone, she was just so excited at her own progress.

"Ya…" She said timidly. Kakashi noticed the discomfort.

"Anyway, I just got word from the Hokage that you are now allowed to leave your room! Very exciting. Now don't get to worked up, you're going to have to wait for me to get done with my rounds first then I'll take you." Ami finished as Sakura put a pout on her face.

She turned back to Kakashi and looked up at him, her stomach protesting once more. He swore it was trying to eat him.

"Where do you want to go for lunch?" He asked assuming that that was what the puppy dog eyes she was currently giving him was for.

"Maybe we could get ramen? Maybe we will run into Naruto! I haven't seen him a while either. I just need to get changed." Sakura said very hurried.

"Sure thing." He said with a chuckle. "Looks like I'll be taking her to lunch if that's ok with you Ami." Kakashi asked

"Just be careful. Don't let her push herself to hard." Ami warned. She turned and pointed at Sakura "And you will take your wheelchair and stay in it the whole time, understood?" she said sternly.

"Of course I will stay in it. Do you think I'm that foolish?" Sakura said with a frown.

"Yes, I do." Ami said turning to go back out the door. She closed the door just as she hurt a forceful thump against it. She chuckled.

Kakashi chuckled as he saw Sakura pick up her other shoe with her foot, grabbed it in her hand, and chucked it across the room at the door.

"I'll get your chair and then grab your shoes. You get into your room and change and we'll go get some lunch." He said as he walked over towards her chair.

He wheeled it over to her and let her use his arm as a support to get into her chair. When she began pushing herself towards the hallway, he turned and went towards the door to get her shoes. He made his way back the hallway and waited for her.

He waited a few minutes before becoming concerned. When he heard a thump on the floor, he became very concerned. He threw the door open only to see Sakura sitting on the floor with pants half way up her legs and a bra on. She was grimacing in pain while vigorously rubbing her calf.

He quickly made it to her and knelt down.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Kakashi asked concerned. He reached over and brushed some of her bangs out of her face.

"Charley horse" She said gritting her teeth with pain.

With that, he picked her up off the floor in his arms and laid her down on the bed. He sat at her feet, scooting forward to put her leg in his lap. She was shaking her leg to try to get the muscle to relax. He grabbed a hold of her, and began running his hands up and down her calf with some pressure.

It took a few moments but he finally felt her relax. He continued to rub her leg.

"Why didn't you just tell me you needed help getting dressed." Kakashi asked quietly.

There was silence for a few seconds.

"I was embarrassed." Sakura said just above a whisper.

"I've been alright with people helping me walk, but when it comes to the most basic things… like getting dressed, or taking a shower, or doing my own hair… It just makes me feel so useless sometimes." Sakura looked at him, with sadness in her eyes.

"Knowing when you need help doesn't mean you're useless, Sakura. It means that you understand what your body is telling you. You of all people should know that." Kakashi said in his teacher voice.

Sakura started laughing "You told me that once before in the genjutsu. Not those exact words, but very similar."

"Well, I'm certainly glad to hear my awesomeness transcended into that life to." Kakashi chuckled

Sakura kicked him lightly at his smart remark. "Want to help me up? The bed isn't exactly the most supportive place to get myself sat up."

Kakashi nodded, standing up while Sakura took to rolling over a couple of times to get her legs positioned over the side of the bed. She held out her arms for him to take her hands.

Two things happened simultaneously. First Kakashi tripped over the wheelchair and second, Sakura tried to pull herself up. The result was Kakashi losing his balance and falling on top of Sakura. Kakashi's eyes opened widely in surprise and Sakura giggled.

Kakashi propped himself up on his elbows, face to face with Sakura, looking into here emerald green eyes. He thought to himself at this moment how beautiful she looked. Her hair was a mess. She didn't have any make up on, she often didn't. She didn't need anything special. She was extremely beautiful just being plain old Sakura.

"What exactly is so funny?" Kakashi asked faking irritation.

"You should have seen the look on your face coming down. PRICELESS!" she busted into more laughter.

Sakura looked at him then, his hair crazy disheveled like usual, and the Konoha headband that usually covered his Sharingan eye was slid up, reveling his long scar.

Reaching up to touch his scar, lightly tracing it down his cheek. She could feel his breath on her face. And she could feel him staring at her while she touched his scar. She knew it had always been a sensitive area for him.

He shivered slightly at her touch. He didn't move away from her. He let her explore his scar, looking at her face as she did so.

"Does it still hurt?" She whispered. She brought her hand up to his cheek and lightly ran her thumb over his eye lid. "I don't remember."

"Yes." He sighed softly, almost instinctively pushing his cheek into her palm. Her touch was relaxing.

"You let me fix it" she said as she pushed open his Sharingan eye. "In the genjutsu"

He opened his eye for her. "But you had me leave the scar…"

They were silent for a few minutes while Sakura inspected his eye. He felt her pull on his shoulders a bit.

"Come closer so I can see better." She said.

He complied with her request, inching closer, her eyes focused on his Sharingan. He doubted she realized how close they really were. But he did.

She put some charka into his temple which left him with a tingling sensation in his head. It was almost like a humming that you could feel. He could feel her chakra exploring. But her chakra felt different for some reason. He knew the feeling of it well with how many times she had healed him in the past.

"Do you want me to fix it for you?" Sakura looked at him, no longer just inspecting his eye, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"If you want to, I won't say no." Kakashi said.

"Can I take off your mask so I can see the rest of your scar?" She requested.

He wasn't really sure why he nodded. He knew she had already seen his face many times when she healed him. But she always respected him enough not to talk about it, or push the issue.

She brought her other hand up to his face, her fingers lightly brushing the skin just above his mask. She slipped her fingers under the fabric and slowly pulled it down under his chin. She could feel his break on her face unhindered now.

She reached up and touched his lip. He had a scar there she didn't remember ever seeing. He noticed her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"It was from a mission when you were in the genjutsu." He said. "The medic nin was new and she left a scar."

Sakura instantly ran chakra into the scar through her finger tips. Once the scar vanished, she gently ran her fingertip across his bottom lip. At his he sighed softly and closed his eyes. He just couldn't bring himself to stop her.

"Leave the scar?" She asked. He opened his eyes slightly to see her looking at his Sharingan again.

"Yes." He responded. At his response she turned slightly to look at him. She was closer this time than he thought. Their noses touched and their lips brushed each other.

"Alright" She said quietly, her lips ghosting against his.

He looked down at her, and he couldn't resist. He leaned down a little more until their lips were touching. Sakura brought her hand up behind his head and into his hair. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers. He kissed her softly, and she kissed him back. He deepened the kiss and she moaned, breaking him out of his enchantment. He pushed up on his elbows and got up from the bed.

"Let's go get lunch then shall we." He said turning away from her, pulling up his mask.

"Sure." She said, turning to her side to push herself up the best she could.

'What just happened' was the thought on both of their minds.

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Note to self: Don't try to start 3 fics at the same time. It will lead to you not finishing any of them… sigh. But I am slowly chipping away as inspiration comes on my days off of work.**

**PS: you can now add me on facebook! I thought it would be way cool to talk to my readers!**

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Sakura and Kakashi made their way down the road towards the ramen stand. It was a slightly warm day with a nice breeze. Their trip was made in silence for the most part except for the constant people coming up to Sakura and wishing her well. She had healed a lot of people; both ninja and civilian villagers, in her time with Tsunade and most were devastated to hear about her 'coma'.

'How can she be so calm?' Kakashi thought to himself. Not that he wanted her to be upset or anything. But he the Sakura he knew would have wanted to punch a large crater into the ground and then promptly hide in it with the level of embarrassment that scene would have caused her. She was nothing like that now though, she the picture of calmness. He caught her closing her eyes and just enjoying the sun on her skin.

'This feels so nice! Maybe I'll actually get some color back…' Sakura thought to herself, leaning her head back with her eyes closed enjoying the heat from the sun on her face. She was so disturbed by how ghostly she looked from being in the hospital for that long.

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" a voice yelled at her from a distance. She would recognize that voice anywhere of course. She was hoping Naruto would be at the ramen stand so she could get away from the awkwardness of what this situation was.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled back and waved furiously. "We are coming to join you for lunch! Tsunade-sama finally let me out of the room!" She stated very excitedly, not noticing the civilians that were looking strangely at the two yelling at each other.

"Old man! Sakura-chan came for lunch! Isn't that awesome!" Naruto quickly yelled to the owner of his favorite ramen stand.

Just as Kakashi was pushing Sakura into the stand, the old man came out of the back to see why Naruto was making so much noise.

"Oh Sakura-san. It's good to see you finally out. How are you feeling?" The owner asked while getting Sakura and Kakashi's usual order ready.

"I am doing very well, thank you Teuchi-san. Thank you for delivering meals to me at the hospital so often. I really appreciate being saved from Ami's cooking." Sakura said with a chuckle.

"Oh no no, no need to thank me dear. You have helped the village so much, it's the least I could do." He said with a smile. He walked away and got 2 bowls, pouring in the contents of their lunches and set them down on the stand for the two.

Naruto looked at Sakura and suddenly realized that she would probably be unable to get up in the stools. But before he could open his mouth to ask her what she wanted to do, Teuchi handed Kakashi a wide board that fit across the arm rests of the wheel-chair. Seeing this, Naruto grabbed her bowl and set it down on the board after Kakashi got it settled and then handed her a set of chop-sticks.

Sakura smiled kindly at them all. Everyone was treating her with care and it warmed her heart. Now if she could just move past her love for Kakashi… well, the love for "her" Kakashi. But she didn't want to let that go. It didn't matter if it was from a pretend life, that love still felt so real. It was hard for her to look at him a different way. But it wasn't fair to him to put him in the kinds of situations they had been in already.

'….I need to talk to Tsunade-sama about this.' Sakura thought to herself as she was eating, frowning slightly.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her…with a noodle sticking to his cheek.

She gave him a small smile, her eyes softening. She motioned Naruto to come towards her. Grabbing her napkin, she wiped away the offending noodle when he leaned close enough. His cheeks were stained a light red.

"Nothing Naruto. I was just thinking." Sakura replied, going back to her own food.

They finished their meals with some small banter. Naruto took her empty bowl and her makeshift table and put it on the counter. Sakura made a decision suddenly, not wanting to torture herself or ruin her friendship with Kakashi anymore than she already had.

"Kakashi, would you mind if Naruto took me back. I would like to talk to him a bit more since it's been so long since I have been able to see him with my recovery." Sakura asked with a sad look in her eye.

Their eyes met for a moment. He hesitated for a moment. He didn't want her to push him away because of what he did earlier. She saw this war waging in his eyes and across his face.

"If you'd like, you can stop buy later and help me make dinner." Sakura offered to help ease the tension she could feel from him.

"Sure. I guess I'll meet up with you later." He said turning towards Naruto. "She is not to leave the chair." He said to Naruto and walked away with a wave.

They both watched as their former teacher walked into the distance, pulling out his book.

"So what did you want to talk about Sakura-chan. You've been on edge the entire time you've gotten here." Naruto said walking behind her and beginning to push her.

Sakura took in a loud deep sigh. "I'm struggling with all this Naruto. I don't even know what to do."

"Don't worry; you'll be on your feet before you know it! Then we can spar and stuff!" Naruto said excitedly.

Sakura smile. 'If only it was that simple' She thought to herself.

"Its not that Naruto. It just…." She paused and took in a deep breath. "Its just that…I am having a hard time adjusting to being this far back in my life. Info is alive. Kakashi….. Kakashi isn't my husband. I don't have any children. I am having a really hard time dealing with the emotions that losing those things brings." Her shoulders began to shake as tears began running down her cheeks.

"Oh Sakura-chan" Naruto stopped pushing and scooped her up in a big hug, her legs not even touching the ground. He rubbed her back soothingly "Its ok Sakura-chan. We are all here for you. We will get you through this." Naruto smiled as he felt her squeeze him tighter. "Do you want to go see Baa-chan? I'm sure she needs a break from working…or drinking…. Or both."

With that they both chuckled at their Hokage. "Yes, I would really like that." She pulled him back into a tight hug. "Thanks Naruto. You are a great friend."

"Sakura!" they both heard a female voice calling for her from a distance. Naruto put her back in the chair and wheeled her towards figure they saw waving. Once they got close enough, Sakura had a huge smile on her fast."

"Faster Naruto, its Shizune! SHIZUNE!" Sakura called and waved back at the woman.

As the woman was running towards them, getting closer. Naruto could see that Sakura wanted to get out of the chair to give the person she considered a sister a hug. Naruto stopped the chair and helped Sakura out of her chair from behind. Sakura took a couple wobbly steps and then Shizune was on her with arms wrapped tightly around the girl.

"Oh my goodness its so good to see you out and about in the village." Shizune said excitedly holding Sakura back at arms length and then pulling her in for a hug again. "You look amazing Sakura!"

Shizune could feel Sakura's legs getting shaky so she squeezed the girl a little tighter and lifted her from the ground, taking the couple steps towards the chair and lowered her into her seat. She squatted down still holding Sakura's hands.

"What are you two up to today?" She asked the two friends.

"I was going to take Sakura-chan to see Baa-chan for a little bit to get her mind off things." Naruto said

Shizune nodded at him in understanding, she must be overwhelmed.

"I was headed that direction as well. I'll walk with you guys." Shizune said standing up.

They quickly made it to the Hokage tower. Naruto picked Sakura up out of the chair while Shizune left it with the receptionist and they made their way up the stairs towards Tsunade's office.

Shizune knocked and opened the doors. "Tsunade-sama you have visitors."

"I'm busy." She said sternly, not even look up from the mounds of paperwork she was currently working on. "reschedule their meeting."

"I don't think I can do that." Shizune said back.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Naruto had put Sakura down next to the door so she could make her entrance by herself.

"Just do it Shizune. I am in no mood for this today." Tsunade said slamming her fists down on the desk, sending papers flying. She looked up at Shizune to see a pink haired girl rounding the corner from the door, slowly and wobbly. Her eyes widened.

"I would ask you to reconsider Shishou." Sakura said smiling.

Tsunade ran over to her, hugging her tight. "How are you feeling? What are you doing out of your chair, Ami said you weren't ready yet!" Tsunade yelled.

"I'm fine Shishou, Naruto carried me up the stairs. I am making good progress in the therapy. Though I am going crazy not being allowed to fully use my chakra yet." She finished and Naruto made his entrance.

"Well, let's get you over into a seat and we can talk. Naruto, I have a few missions that need handed out if you could do that and pick up Sakura after." Tsunade said while she helped Sakura over to a chair.

"Of course Baa-chan. But don't keep her really long, she has dinner plans with Kakashi." Naruto said picking up the bag of scrolls and headed out. "See you in a little bit Sakura-chan!"

Tsunade sat down at her desk with a raised eyebrow. "Dinner date with Kakashi huh?" she chuckled.

"He didn't want to leave me with Naruto after lunch so I promised him he could stop by later and help me cook." Sakura explained.

"I see" Tsunade smiled at her apprentice. "So what do I owe this visit from my favorite pink haired apprentice?" She began opening up drawers looking for her sake stash.

"I am having problems Shishou." Sakura said looking down at her hands.

"Speak freely Sakura." Shizune insisted

"I just can't deal with all of this." She paused. "If Kakashi were dead or really far away, I could deal with it. If I had my family I could deal with it. But it just seems like everyone is there to taunt me." Sakura sighed deeply. It seems to be all she did anymore.

"I just don't think I can focus on my recovery the way that I need to with everyone trying to coddle me. Choji and Gai are the only ones who understand and respect my requests for space. Everyone else is just…..just suffocating." Sakura put her head in her hands.

Everyone was silent, not sure if she was finished.

"We kissed." She started shaking her head in disapproval at herself.

"Who?" Shizune asked surprised.

"Kakashi." Sakura responded just above a whisper. "I fell on the floor when I was trying to get pants on myself. I had gotten a charlie horse. He helped me onto the bed but tripped on my chair and we both fell on the bed, him on top of me. I was looking at his Sharingan, seeing if he wanted me to fix it for him… and we ended up kissing….. I am still in love with my Kakashi. It's not fair to him that I am putting him through this. I don't want to ruin our friendship." She finished, looking up from her hands.

"So what do you want to do?" Tsunade asked.

"I want to leave until my physical recovery is finished, then I can move on to the mental recovery. Reserve one of the areas ANBU has set aside outside the village and let me and Gai go there, send Ami once a week to check on us." Sakura sounded almost frantic. Pleading for Tsunade to accept her proposal.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "Fine, you may go. But I won't send Ami, Shizune will go personally so we can keep this under wraps. But while I have you here, we need to discuss something." She said with a haunted look on her face.

"Are you sure this is the appropriate time?" Shizune questioned her.

"I don't see any other time that would be better. And I want her to know before she goes." Tsunade answered, suddenly sounding much older. So much more burdened.

She looked back to Sakura who had a questioned look on her face.

"Sakura, we have a theory on what happened to you." She said to the girl who nodded her head to continue.

"Remember when Kakashi battled with Itachi years ago when Naruto and Sasuke were younger." Tsunade waited for Sakura to remember.

"Yes, he and a few other Senseis were fighting him and another Akatsuki member. He was in the hospital for a long time after that." Sakura confirmed

"Yes, well, you were too young then to understand. But what happened was Itachi used his Sharingan to put Kakashi under a genjutsu. Not just any normal one, but one that made him live 3 days of torture in the matter of just a few seconds. Kakashi really felt as though he lived that time, that he experienced that time…" Tsunade trailed off as she was the look on her student's face.

"Sasuke…" Sakura whispered.

"Yes I believe so. But I am just not sure why yet. He brought you back to the village, told us he wanted to help you recover. And he has been annoyingly demanding to be able to see you ever since." Tsunade said running a hand down her face. "But we were hoping you would be willing to help us figure out exactly what he wants since he seems to be only interested in you."

"I understand. But I would first like to finish at least the physical part of my therapy. I need to….. I need to see if the things that happened in my other life are realistic because they could be of great help to the village if so."

"Alright, Gai should be back from his mission no later than tomorrow at lunch. It was just a simple document delivery. D-rank. Get your things packed and I'll send him over as soon as he gets back. I will clear out of the buildings and segregate usage to you. The building has 3 apartments with 4 rooms each. You and Gai can have one and the others will be occupied by ANBU. They will act as your guards since you will be outside of the gates. Shizune will give me updates; I'll send her 2 times a week." Tsunade said getting back up from her desk and walking towards Sakura.

She squatted down and took her student's hands and looked right into her eyes. "Come back to us strong Sakura. But come back to us quickly."

Tsunade gave her a hug as a knock was heard. Shizune opened the door to reveal Naruto back.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked

"Yes Naruto. We can go." Sakura said as her mentor released her. Naruto came around and picked her up, walking towards the door.

'Now I just have to figure out how to break it to Kakashi….' She thought to herself as Naruto began down the stairs of the tower.


	11. Chapter 11

**Starting to get back into the swing of things! Thank you for all of the story adds, reviews, and PMs! Some days it's what gets me through to the end of my day. LOVE!**

Naruto pushed her slowly through the village back towards her makeshift apartment. Shizune had given him a bag full of fruit from the Hokage gardens for Sakura to take home. It was still early so Naruto decided to take a detour so his friend could take full advantage of all the outside time she could get. They headed towards the civilian area of the village.

"Naruto? Where are we going?" Sakura asked.

Naruto chuckled "It's a surprise Sakura-chan. You'll see in a few minutes." He answered.

They traveled through the civilian sector and towards a field until they were at the edge of the village. He stopped pushing her near a tree. He locked her chair in place, secured the bag of food to his waist and then stooped down in front of Sakura.

"Get on Sakura-chan, I'll carry you the rest of the way." Naruto requested.

Sakura didn't question him. It was obvious to her that he wanted to surprise her with something so she happily went along with it, appreciating the distraction from the mess her life currently was. She leaned forward in her chair and latched on around his neck as he gripped his arms around her legs and stood slowly.

They walked quietly into the woods, neither saying a word. She was enjoying being so surrounded by nature after being in her 'apartment' for so long. And she wasn't going to do anything to spoil the moment.

After a about a 10 minute walk they came to a clearing. She had her head resting on Naruto's shoulder with her eyes closed just enjoying the peacefulness. When she felt him stop she opened her eyes and looked up. She drew in a sharp breath as she saw the place Naruto brought her to. It was beautiful. They had come to a clearing on the edge of the village that had a small open field filled with flowers and wild life. It also had a natural hot spring past the field.

"Oh Naruto…..It's gorgeous!" Sakura said in disbelief as Naruto kneeled down to let her get off his back.

As soon as she hit the ground Naruto was back at her side ready to help her sit. Once he got her settled, he took the bag from his waist and sat down across from her. He opened the bag and handed her a container of strawberries and took some watermelon for himself.

"MMMMMMMMM" Sakura moaned as she bit into her first strawberry. "Naruto these are delicious. Thank you so much for bringing me here." She said with her mouth full.

Naruto chuckled at her. He was glad to finally have his best friend back. Even if she wasn't 100% recovered…..and pretty much a completely different person.

"Sakura-chan…." He said quietly. She looked up at him but didn't say anything. "…I'm really glad your alright."

She offered him a small smile. The boy that, as a child, she felt was always annoying and more than she could tolerate was actually the one that was the light in her life. The one for many years that gave her the strength to move forward. She reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Thank you for never losing faith in me." She whispered looking down at the ground.

"Can you talk about it?" Naruto asked her.

"About what?" Sakura asked, removing her hand from Naruto to reach for another delectable strawberry.

"Whatever you and Baa-chan talked about. Did you tell her about the whole struggling with Kakashi not being your husband thing?" Naruto asked, not really sure if he'd actually get an answer. But something was obviously bothering her so he thought he'd at least try.

"Yes I did." Sakura answered back, unsure of how to proceed with this kind of conversation.

"So what happened?" He pressed further. Sakura stayed silent as she tried to find the right words.

"It's obviously bothering you Sakura. You can tell me anything, you know that. So what's up?" He continued, determined to relieve her of whatever burden was bothering her.

There was silence. All they could hear was the birds chirping around them.

"When did you grow up so much Naruto. I don't remember you being this perceptive." Sakura said quietly.

He chuckled at her. He always considered her his best friend but there were parts of his life that he purposefully didn't talk about to anyone. He wanted to always think positive and focus on the future, not the past.

"I didn't exactly have the best childhood. Everyone basically hated me. I lived alone, went shopping alone, got made fun of and hit, shunned and worse….." He paused for a moment clenching his fist at the painful memories. "It makes you grow up fast, ya know? I had to be able to take care of myself. And when I finally made it into the academy and I was picked to be on your team, I…. I was so excited… so happy to just have anyone I could rely on. I could finally relax and be a kid so I probably acted out more than I should have….. But it helped me forget the past. You and Kakashi-sensei really got me through some tough times in my life. And now it's my turn to help you out Sakura-chan! Believe it!" Naruto ended with a giggle and his signature beaming smile.

Sakura smiled at this. "We are a family Naruto. Me, you, Kakashi-sensei and Sai. We're stuck with each other forever I suppose, aren't we." Sakura laughed and Naruto joined in.

"What I tell you is strictly confidential." Sakura suddenly said very quietly.

"I can keep a secret." Naruto scrunched his face at her.

"I'm serious Naruto. The implications of what I tell you have the potential to be disastrous. No one can know about this unless Shishou says they can. Do you understand?" Sakura looked at him with very serious eyes.

"Ok, Ok." Naruto said, waving his hand in front of his face. "I get it Sakura-chan. Top-secret information. Got it."

Sakura took in a deep breath. "I am leaving the village."

"WHAT!" He screamed. " You're not ready to go on missions yet! Baa-chan can't send you out yet! What was she thinking! She must be goin-" Naruto was interrupted with a soft punch to the shoulder.

"Naruto I am NOT going on a mission. Let me finish." She paused to make sure her loud mouth friend would let her continue uninterrupted. "I can't focus on my recovery here. Honestly, it's too hard to be near Kakashi like this. I keep putting him in situations that I shouldn't be because of the genjutsu. And as much as being in this time of your life is normal for you, it's a time jump for me and I'm having issues adjusting." She paused, wiping a hand down her face in frustration with herself.

"I asked to go to the ANBU training grounds right outside the village. No one is going to know I am there except a handful of people that have the proper security clearance. Gai is going to be with me and Shizune is going to check on me constantly. I will also have ANBU guards based there. So don't worry, I will be safe."

"I still don't like it….." Naruto said pouting and crossing his arms.

"There's something else Naruto….. I really shouldn't even be telling you this part but… you're my family and I think you deserve to know about a potential risk like this."

Suddenly Naruto was concerned. He loved Sakura, but only really like a sister. They had discussed a while ago his feelings after he discovered Hinata liked him…finally.

"What is it Sakura." He said in a very serious tone.

"Its…" She let out a loud breath "Its…how can I explain it." She struggled to find a way to explain that Naruto would understand.

"The coma I was in was induced by genjutsu, remember when we discussed that?" She asked him

"Ya but we didn't know who would be able to do something like that, where you lived a long time while you were actually sleeping." Naruto answered confidently, very proud of himself for understanding the conversation they had had. He knows he isn't the brightest with these kinds of things.

"Exactly. Well, we know who could do something like that now." Sakura waited a moment for him to process that information. Naruto nodded at her to continue.

"Do you remember when we were genin and Kakashi fought Itachi and ended up in the hospital for days because of the torture he went through." She asked him just as her mentor had asked her.

"Uuummm. Yeah. But I remember being really confused because he wasn't injured that I could see." He replied deep in thought as he tried to remember.

"Exactly. Itachi put him under something similar to a genjutsu, only Kakashi actually experienced all of that torture. Just like I really experienced living 9 years of my life. It was all very real for me." She was very happy he was catching on, but was very sad at the same time. She knew he would catch on to where she was leading him.

"Ok so your saying even though your body didn't really experience that time when you were in your coma, but your mind definitely did. So you what? Like 9 years older in your mind? And that's like….why you're so different now. You're grown up but not." He was starting to get confused.

"Yes. Exactly!" She clapped her hands together.

"But I don't understand how that could happen. I mean…Itachi is dead. Unless…." Naruto pause to think. This made Sakura very hopeful, he was leading himself to the conversation.

"Unless he didn't really die and he is plotting against us!" He suddenly said in an outburst.

Sakura visibly deflated. But then came to the conclusion that they probably didn't even tell Naruto that Sasuke had brought her back to the village. Now that she thought about it, he hadn't even mentioned the last surviving Uchiha.

"No Naruto. Did anyone tell you how I came back to the village?" she asked him. He shook his head no.

She scooted a little closer to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Naruto….Sasuke brought me back."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "Sasuke?" he whispered to himself. "I don't understand Sakura-chan." He had that look in his eyes. The same look when they finally gave up on bringing Sasuke back to the village.

"I know. Neither do I. But Kakashi and Shishou seem to think that since he brought me back to the village, and the Uchiha are the only ones that they know of that could do that kind of thing, that he did it and that he has an agenda. Though at this time, we aren't sure what he wants. She said he keeps asking for me. And that they want me to help figure out what his motives are. But my recovery comes first so that's why I am leaving." She rubbed his shoulders comfortingly.

"He's in the village?" He asked her. His heart beat rapidly increasing.

Sakura nodded. "He's being held right now for everyone's safety, including his own. But Naruto…" She noticed he was starting to space out in thought. She shook him, bringing his attention back to her.

"Naruto, this is really important that you keep this information top-secret. No one can know ok?" She looked sternly at her best friend as he grappled with his feelings.

"Ya, I understand Sakura-chan." He said rather glumly. "But what about Sensei?"

"From what I understand, he is the one who told Shishou about Itachi's genjutsu. So I'm sure he knows everything already." Sakura confirmed, releasing her grip from him.

"No, that's not what I mean." He replied back, the confusion was visible on her face. "Don't play dumb with me Sakura. I could see the tension between you and Kakashi-sensei earlier. What happened between the two of you? I mean, you're leaving because your feelings for him are distracting you from your recovery. Something big had to have happened for you to feel that way."

"Ugh!" Sakura grunted and let herself fall back into the grass, stretching her legs. "We need to head back, I'll explain on the way."

Naruto nodded, and moved to clean up their picnic. Once he had everything together, he lifted her to her feet, turned and leaned down, allowing her easy access to climbing on this back. He started the walk towards the village.

"We kissed." Sakura said suddenly breaking the silence.

"You and Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked very shocked.

Sakura sighed. "Yes. Although technically he kissed me, I put him into the situation that led it to happen. I can't do this anymore to him. I'm forcing my feelings on to him. I don't want to ruin our relationship by confusing my feelings with the wrong Kakashi." She squeezed him a little tighter.

"Can I help with your training when you come back?" Naruto asked happily changing the subject. He wasn't really good with girls and their emotions yet. He hasn't had to deal with this kind of stuff with Hinata yet. Hopefully he would never have to.

"Of course you can. I wouldn't have it any other way." Sakura let her cheek rest on his shoulder as he finished his walk back.

Naruto dropped her off in front of the hospital, giving her one last hug and wishing her luck. She pushed herself through the door and towards her temporary home. This thought made her smile. When she came back to Konoha, she could go back to her apartment. She would need to make sure to tell Ami to have someone stop by and clean it up for her. Goodness only knows what it looks like now that no one has been in it for months.

As Sakura approached her hallway, she noticed Ami wasn't at her desk, so she grabbed a pen and paper and left Ami a note to get a hold of Ino for her and to contact the Hokage if she hasn't already today. With that she continued into her apartment. When she opened her door she was hit in the face with a delicious smell of cooking food.

"Kakashi?" Sakura yelled out. She wasn't expecting him to be there already.

He walked into view and she smiled at the picture in front of her. He had shed his vest and shirt and was standing in front of her in his normal baggy pants and his sleeveless undershirt/mask combo that clung to his muscles.

He noticed her staring at his mid section. "I hope you don't mind. I sort of made a mess and needed to use your washer." He explained, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"It's fine. What are you making?" She asked, pushing herself towards the dining room table.

"Well, I thought we would have dango because that was your favorite before. But when I ran into Ino at the grocery store, she indicated it was now dumplings." Kakashi said, preparing the food.

"Hm. I guess I'm not sure. I do remember liking dango but I grew out of it as I got older. In the genjutsu, your dumplings were to die for and were for special occasions only. So I guess I will have to see if they are still my favorite in real life." Sakura said with a chuckle.

"Hopefully. It's the Hatake secret recipe. It's going to be about another half hour if you wanted to get showered and changed." He said turning away from her to stir the food.

"Sounds wonderful. I'll be back out then." Sakura said rolling herself towards her room to get more comfortable cloths and get into the shower.

She rolled into the large bathroom and close to the shower area. Since she was strong enough to get in and out of the chair alone she didn't often shower in the chair, she didn't like having to sit in a partially wet chair after she tried to dry it off.

She pushed herself up and grabbed the handicap rail to help keep her steady as she walked on the slick tile floor into the shower. She turned on the hot water and steam started filling the room. She leaned her back against the wall and slid down to the floor, letting the hot water rain down on her, relaxing her overworked muscles.

'I can't wait until my strength is back to normal.' She thought to herself

The hot water felt so good. She found herself feeling very tired suddenly, her eyelids getting heavier by the minute. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her knees, letting the water pounding on her skin lull her into sleep.

Kakashi was just finishing up their dinner when he checked the time. It had been 25 minutes since Sakura went to grab a shower. He walked back the hallway and could hear the water still running. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't concerned.

He knocked on the door, with no response. He knocked harder "Sakura" he called out to her loudly, still no response.

He turned the door knob slowly. She had left the door unlocked thank goodness. He opened the door, walking in to the steam filled room to see the pink haired girl curled into a ball, resting her head on her knees. He grabbed a towel and walked over to the shower, turning off the water. He moved towards her, unfolding the towel. He knelt down and wrapped the towel around her and shook her gently.

She sucked a deep breath in and her head shot up. Their eyes locked.

"Oh god Kakashi I am so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep." She said, grabbing the towel and wrapping it closer around her.

"It's alright. You looked tired when you came in." He said standing up. He held out his hands to her. "I'll help you to your chair. Then you can get changed before you come to the table. The food is done."

He grabbed her hands as she reached out for him, and pulled her up from the floor into his chest. He waited until she had a good grip on her towel before helping her over to her chair. Once she was settled in he pushed her towards her room, opened the door and gave her a push in.

"If you need help let me know." Kakashi said patting her on the head.

Sakura's face flushed red as she remembered what happened earlier in the day. She got dressed and threw her hair up in a damp messy ponytail and headed out to the dinner table. Kakashi already had the table set and the food out for her.

"Thanks for cooking Kakashi. I don't think I would have been able to with how tired I am." Sakura said starting to dig into her food.

"MMMMM" She said through her chewing. She paused to swallow. "This is delicious Kakashi." She said digging into the rest of her food.

Kakashi chuckled at her. "I suppose this means it's still your favorite then." You could hear the happiness in his voice.

Sakura looked up at him and smiled. "I think favorite is an understatement."

They ate the rest of their dinner in silence, only occasionally interrupted by a small moan from Sakura as she fully appreciated the food he made her.

As she finished up her food, Kakashi began cleaning up the table and washing dishes.

"Why don't you go ahead and sit on the couch. I'll finish cleaning up in here." Kakashi said with his back to her, his hands already in the sink washing dishes.

Who was she to argue? She was exhausted and now with a full belly, she wasn't even going to attempt to pretend she wasn't ready to finish the nap she started in the shower.

"Thank you" She said quietly, and rolled herself out to the couch. She slowly and wobbly got out of her wheelchair and onto the couch, plopping down loudly, as she laid back she draped her arm over her eyes.

She heard his steps coming closer a while later, even felt him sit down by her legs but she didn't acknowledge it.

"Well, I will let you rest. Do you want help getting to bed?" Kakashi asked her.

"MM, not yet. We need to talk." Sakura said back followed quickly with a yawn. She felt him get up from his seat.

"I'll come by tomorrow, we can talk then." He replied, thinking she wanted to talk about what happened earlier that day.

"I'll be gone tomorrow." She said, removing her arm from her eyes.

"Then we can discuss it the next day. It's obvious that you need sleep." He said more forcefully.

"No Kakashi. You don't understand. I will be gone. I'm leaving the village." She gave him a very stern look.

"What do you mean leaving?" He said confused.

"Sit and calm down, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Sakura said sternly, lifting her legs back up as much as she could so Kakashi could sit.

He sat down begrudgingly turned himself towards Sakura, sitting with his legs crossed. Once she felt him stop moving she gently placed her tired legs on him.

"You can't leave the village Sakura. You can't even handle a day with Naruto without coming back looking like you just fought a war. How do you expect to be able to do anything out of the village?" He said with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"That's exactly why I have to go." She replied quietly back.

"That doesn't even make any sense and you know it." He bit back angrily

"I don't understand what you are getting worked up about Kakashi. I need to get away so I can focus on training. I'm getting too distracted here." She said very tiredly.

"Distracted? So this is about this morning." Kakashi said with a very angry tone to his voice.

"No" She left out a frustrated growl and sat up quickly, well as quickly as she could. "Yes but not in the way you are thinking." She gripped her legs, pulling them away from him and scooted her way to lean back against the arm of the chair.

"God damn it Sakura will you just tell me what the hell is going on?" He yelled, stood up and turned away from her.

"I'm in love Kakashi….." She said quietly.

He turned to look at her and saw she had rested her head against the back of the couch.

He sighed loudly and ran his hand through his hair "What does that have to do with anything?"

She opened her eyes and looked right at him. "It has everything to do with everything." She turned herself so her back was on the back of the couch and began to stand up.

"What are you doing?" He yelled at her and rushed to steady her.

She swatted his hands away and stood tall. She settled her "I am in love with Kakashi, Kakashi."

"I'm not him Sakura and what happened this morning should never had happened and I'-" He was interrupted.

"Kakashi shut up. Just shut up for one minute so I can explain properly." She said calmly, bringing her hands up to his face and offering a small smile.

He violently swatted away her hands from his face at strode away from her.

"I know you're not him…. But that doesn't mean I don't see you in him every second I am with you. Do you know how hard that is?" She ran a hand down her face. "I loved him with every part of my being and telling me that life wasn't real doesn't just make that feeling magically disappear. No one has given me a chance to mourn my loss. And because of th-"

"Mourn the loss of a life you didn't have? That makes very little sense." Kakashi interrupted her, turning back to face her.

"Fine Kakashi. If you don't want to let me finish explaining, then I'll give you the short version. You are distracting. Ok? Are you happy? I am projecting the feelings I have for my husband on you and it is putting us in akward situations that are confusing me and distracting me from fully dedicating myself to my recovery." She said turning away from him and walking slowly away from the couch and Kakashi.

"Well if that's how you feel then you don't have to worry about me being a 'distraction' " he said that very sarcastically. "I won't bother you anymore." He said sternly walking towards the door.

"Kakashi" Sakura called back to him.

He turned around and screamed "What!"

She flinched and the loud intrusion. She turned and looked back at him, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Goodnight" she said quietly and entered the hallway, making her way back to her room.

He stormed out of her apartment, slamming the door. He quickly made his escape from the hospital and to his apartment.

Mean while, Sakura sat down on her bed as many more tears rolled down her face. She picked up the phone next to her bed and dialed.

"Hello"

"Shizune" She said through a sudden sob.

"Sakura? Are you ok sweetie" Her friend sounded very worried.

"No" She sobbed again. "I know it's late but can you get Shishou, and Ino and come to my place please?"

"Sure thing. We'll be right there, you just hand tight"

"Thank you." She hung up and let the sadness over take her.

She didn't know how much time lapsed when she heard the door open and voices filled her apartment.

"Sakura?" She heard Ino call out to her.

"I'm in my room." She yelled back

The three girls entered her room and Ino rushed to comfort her friend.

"Oh Forehead, what happened, tell us everything." Ino wiped the hair out of her face and handed her a tissue.

"I can't do this. Not right now. I need to leave now, I can't wait for Gai." Her voice was shakey.

"Let's talk about this." Shizune said, trying to be rational.

"No, please. Just pack my things and take me.Send Choji to meet Gai and redirect him before he gets back to the village. Ino and Shizune can stay with me until they arrive." Sakura looked to Tsunade, pleading. "Please Shishou."

Tsunade ached for the girl. She could see how broken she was. They obviously weren't going to get anything out of her for now, and didn't want to see her get any worse.

"Alright, let's get everything together and get moving." Tsunade said walking towards her closet and grabbing handfuls of cloths.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Sakura said breaking down again.

**Merry Christmas everyone! I know this took me forever to post, honestly it took me forever to write. Sometimes it's hard to get my creative mind going but this is about the size of 2 chapters for me! Until next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

**So I'm pretty sure I wrote this chapter like 20 times before I got something that was acceptable. I tend to move fast and make Sakura way strong. But I wanted this story to be about subtle moves towards their relationship. This chapter is going to time jump into the future 6 months because I'm just not good at writing a lot of training scenes and I think that would get really boring to read as well. I'll have a few flashbacks into that period I am jumping past to give more information into whats happening but otherwise: ONWARD!**

**PS: thanks for all the pms and reviews. You make my heart happy!**

Today was one of the happiest days Sakura can remember. Well, except the day she had Obito…which never happened. So really it was the happiest day she can remember. She didn't want to go home until she could beat Gai. But quickly realizing that that moment may be much farther off than she imagined originally, she settled for at least not getting beaten into the ground. And that day had finally come.

They would spar intensely one time a week. Shizune was always present during these battles. This was meant to get her battle ready after she got her body recovered for the most part. But what Shizune couldn't understand and always bothered her about, was her training attire. Sakura always wore baggy Jonin issue pants that fell low on her hips, black chest bindings, and leather gloves that Gai had made for her. The outfit itself wasn't out of the ordinary, but at the beginning Sakura had worn her typical skirt and shorts…..and actually wore a shirt.

This week Ibiki had requested Lady Hokage accompany Shizune to this week's spar, simply stating that the time had come to show off his hard work. Which confused the Hokage. She was sure Ibiki and Sakura would cross paths over the last 6 months but it was unlike the rough man to take an interest in someone/something other than his scheduled trainees. So here they stood, Gai, Choji, Shizune, and Tsunade, a distance from Sakura and the group of ANBU, watching as she pulled her hair into a high pony tail.

As she saw Ibiki approach the group, and asked Gai, "How is she doing?" Tsunade quietly spoke. She hadn't been able to keep in touch with Sakura other than letters as she didn't want to disclose her location. The council was pushing for her to make a decision about how to handle the Uchiha.

"She is an amazing pupil Hokage-sama! She has bested me on more than one occasion!" Gai gushed about his student. He was very proud of Sakura. And even though she was never originally on his team, he knew if he had to pick someone to go to battle with, he would easily chose her. She is fierce in her determination, and incredibly dangerous if someone she cares about is at risk. And when the day came during training that she injured him and rendered him unable to continue her training with out extensive healing, he beamed with pride.

"Choji?" Tsunade said, leaving the question unasked.

"She has a very strong mind. She has worked through the majority of the issues that were present when she came out of the genjutsu. " Choji stated

"But?" He couldn't fool Tsunade. She could tell there was more to be said.

Choji sighed loudly "She still harbors feelings for Kakashi-sensei. Though she doesn't seem to desire acting on those feelings unless he acts first. She said that she knows her place in this world and if it wasn't ment to be, then she isnt going to force it."

Tsunade nodded, not wanting to betray any thought she had about the situation. Ever since they removed Sakura from the village for her recovery, the Copy-nin was relentless in his pursuit of Sakura, or as he stated, her well being.

****FLASHBACK****

Tsunade sat at her desk with a large bottle of sake as Shizune helped her go through the paperwork that was delayed from the improptu need to move Sakura last night into the early morning. They had stayed with her until Gai and Choji arrived, and Sakura told them about what happened. She heard a knock at the door and she sighed loudly for what seemed the 500th time today.

"Enter" she called out.

The door opened slowly and Shikamaru entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"I have just been informed that Kakashi has entered the building, what do you want me to do?" He asked, looking really bored.

"Tell him I'm busy, and put seals on the doo-" Tsunade was inturrupted by the door slamming open.

"I need to talk to you." Kakashi spoke with clear frustration.

"Now is not the time Kakashi. I am busy." She bit back.

"I want to know where she is. I went to her room and Ino was boxing everything up." He growled

"Yes, I know. I told her to." Tsunade gave him a fierce glare.

"I'm aware. Ino informed me. She also informed me that I don't have a high enough clearance to be given any information." Kakashi was shaking with frustration and anger.

"She was correct. You are dismissed." Tsunade said going back to her paperwork

"THAT IS BULL SHI-" Kakashi was inturrupted

"I SAID YOU WERE DISMISSED HATAKE!" Tsunade screamed back slamming her hands on her desk and standing quickly. "Nara, please escort Hatake off the premisis. Unless I call him for a mission, he is not to be seen in my office again until further notice!"

****FLASHBACK END****

She still remembers how the door frame splintered when Kakashi slammed it on the way out. She smirked at the memory. She left Naruto in charge when she left to observe the spar this week, stating she was meeting the Kazekage to talk about trade agreements. She hoped he would be able to keep Kakashi at bay.

She observed the ANBU trainees come out of the housing with colored masks on. Some had red masks, some had yellow masks and this designated their teams.

"We shall begin shortly, everyone listen up!" Ibiki called out. "Take a moment and pick your team leader, once you have accomplished that leaders need to come forward."

It only took a moment for each team to put a member forward as their leader.

"Now, we will do a coin toss, whoever wins the coin toss will get Haruno on their team for the exercise. I will explain the exercise once the teams have been finalized. Yellow you are heads, red you are tails." Ibiki called out again. He reached into his pocket and retrieved the coin. "Hokage-sama, would you like to please do the honors?" he called over to Tsunade. She raised her eye brow but started over towards him grabbing the coin and flipping it.

"Tails it is. Red team gets Sakura on their team." Tsunade announced. Both team leaders nodded and went back to stand with their team, Sakura walking over towards the red team.

Tsunade went to return to Shizune but was stopped by Ibiki's hand on her shoulder.

"Please stay a minute." Ibiki asked and Tsunade nodded. "Now our Hokage is going to help you understand what this training exercise is about. Hokage-sama, having great experience in the area of being a field medic, could you please explain what a field medic's role is on their assigned team."

Tsunade's eyes widened, she cleared her throat. "Of course Ibiki-san." She said sounding surprised.

She turned to the ANBU group "The job of a field medic is to hang back from the battle and assess everyone's health and seriousness of injuries within seconds. His or her number 1 top priority is the lives of their clients, and squad mates. It is imperative that the medic does not engage the enemy in any way unless it is 100% necessary to protect the client or object in question. When healing on the field the medic must only use the absolute necessary chakra, if they use to much they could easily be rendered incapacitated by the enemy, and may cost his or her squad mates their lives. The medic must also be excellent at evasive maneuvers and long range attacks to ward off any attempts and their own lives and the lives of the person they are trying to heal or protect."

Tsunade paused and gave them a very intense look. "But it is also equally important that the medic's squad mates be paying attention to them while in battle. If their live is lost, so is the life of the squad. So you must always back up your medic when the situation escalates to a point where they can't protect themselves or they risk losing the life of the person they are trying to heal or protect. Understood?"

All the ANBU nodded. Tsunade turned to Ibiki who smirked.

"Alright guys, it's time to begin!" Ibiki stated, putting his hand on Tsunade's shoulder to keep her there just a little longer.

"This training session is all about the medic! Haruno needs improvement prioritizing in intense battle. And we need improvement on our skills protecting our medic during battle! This is a full exercise. You can use any technique you need. Red team, your objective is to take down the yellow team and keep your medic safe while she heals your squad mates. Yellow team, your objective is to take down red team and incapacitate their medic!" He paused looking as the team nodded as one. "GO!" The entire group dispersed.

"I'm impressed Ibiki." Tsunade stated as they both walked towards the rest of the observers.

"Hokage-sama, may I speak freely." Ibiki said gruffly.

"Hai." She responsed

"Sakura Haruno is exceptional. She could easily be on an ANBU squad. And a medic that is strong enough to be with ANBU is very rare anymore." Ibiki stated as they came to a stop with the rest of the group.

"I would agree with you. She still has much to learn….though if it's something she decides she wants to pursue, I won't stop her." Tsunade responded.

"This has been a great opportunity to train my recruits in the way a squad should function. Many of them have not gotten to work with medics in the field even out of ANBU. It has proved priceless to many of them. But it seems it has also been a great help to your apprentice in furthering her skills and on-the-spot thinking that being a medic in battle requires. I would request we do this more often." Ibiki gave a smile.

Tsunade nodded her agreement. It probably was for the best to dedicate one or two medics to ANBU recruit training. Everyone benefits from that intense kind of training. Each year a handful of ANBU recruits died during their intense training period, and this would clearly drop the numbers.

They all stood quietly as they saw the battle begin.


	13. Chapter 13

**So glad the last chapter is done and over with. It was a hard one for some reason. I know what you're thinking, she hasn't posted chapters in like forever, and now she posts 2 in 2 days! Insane! Thank goodness for Memorial day weekend!**

**I am from the US and on this Memorial Day weekend I would like to thank all those who serve or have served your countries, those who have scarified their lives, and the families who have lost a loved one or have a loved one in service right now! Our freedoms are only possible because of you!**

**Anyway, I obviously don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the story.**

Sakura was ecstatic. She had been begging Ibiki to help train her once she injured Gai-sempai. He refused at first, laughing in her face. But a few ANBU obliged her in their free time. They had a standing agreement that if they ever got injured, they would go straight to her instead of trying to avoid the hospital as was typical with ANBU. When they proposed that trade off when they saw her healing Gai, she didn't hesitate to take the opportunity.

****FLASH BACK****

She had no idea what just happened, but she lay bloodied and broken, face down in the dirt. She tried to slow her breathing and draw what little chakra she did have to heal her now broken ribs.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Sakura-chan." Fox landed next to her "You'll pass out. Let me help you." He slowly rolled her over on her back as she winced from the pain, but she didn't cry out. 'At least she's getting better at that.' Fox thought to himself.

When he first started to train Sakura, he could read her like a book. After her first defeat, she was so frustrated with herself that she punched a crater into the earth. When they were a month into their training, she still easily got frustrated during their spars and easily showed pain with each hit. This was a huge weakness. But the only thing that had helped him with it was interrogation training.

One day during a particularly violent spar, Ibiki approached him and asked him about her progress. He told Ibiki his thoughts about her ease to fluster and finally Ibiki took her under his wing.

**** END FLASH BACK****

That was a hellish month, she smirked at the memory. She quietly stalked around the battle field, waiting to be of use but avoiding battle like she was taught. She heard rustling around her, she turned to see one of her squad-mates near her, just checking to make sure she was ok. He jumped off quickly once he was sure she wasn't injured. They didn't want to give away her position.

The battle was getting more spread out. Suddenly she felt his presence and jumped to the side, skidding to a stop and jumping up into a tree. 'Do NOT engage' she repeated to herself. But he was engaging her and eventually she would need to fight.

He was suddenly behind her and she ducked as a kunai zipped past her and lodged itself into the tree. She went into defensive stance. If she focused on defending, her squad would come before she was injured. She stopped concealing her chakra and began blocking all attacks form the yellow team ANBU.

She could feel a second chakra moving towards her. She didn't know if they were friend or foe, so she needed to get out of this situation and fast. Before she could do anything, a kunai was lodged in her calf. She didn't budge from her spot, now wincing or crying out. She quickly dropped to the forest floor. This was different than the previous training they had done as a squad, they were really going all out. She pulled the kunai out of her calf and took off, ANBU fast on her tail.

She couldn't go out into the open to try to find her team, she didn't want to be overwhelmed with attacks. She wasn't on ANBU level. So she did the only thing she could do. She put chakra into her fist and pounded the ground, that would get her team's attention. The ground shook and a large crater was created. Now she just needed to stay around there.

Sure enough, someone came quickly enough. "Okami! Are you injured" Fox yelled and he dropped down beside her.

Sakura smiled at the nickname her training partner had given her. After a spar that Choji was on her team for, Fox told her she was much like a wolf. He told her that she could go it alone, but preferred to be with her pack. That she fought ferociously, but was deadly when protecting her pack. She welcomed the nick name, feeling more accepted in the ANBU group after that.

"On my calf, but nothing I need to heal at this moment. You?" She said as they both jumped back, dodging kunai.

"Nothing immediately threatening, but there are a few that need you. 500 yards South East. If you see anyone, send them my way." Fox said before they split off.

Not too far off she spotted 2 red masks. They were running towards her. "I need one with me and one about 300 yards the way I came. Fox needs assistance." Sakura yelled. Bear sped off, and Otter stayed with her.

"You are injured." Otter said, noting the blood on the back of her pant leg.

"It was just a kunai, nothing that needs healed right now. Fox said there were a few injured. Are you ok?" Sakura asked, noticing he wasn't running normally.

"I have a few broken ribs and took a kunai to the back. Nothing life threatening." Otter stated.

Sakura nodded, slowing her steps. "I need to take off my weights. I need to move faster."

They both stopped.

****BACK WITH IBIKI, TSUNADE, SHIZUNE, CHOJI AND GAI****

Tsunade was impressed by what she was seeing from the recruits already. This was a pretty bloody battle so far. A few were incredibly injured. Since the yellow team didn't have a medic, anyone who was injured to the point that their life was on the line was brought over to the Hokage and Shizune. Once healed, they weren't allowed to continue participation.

Finally they saw a flash of pink. They saw Sakura slow to a stop with Otter. She unstrapped her gloves and dropped them on the ground, causing a cloud of dirt and cracks in the ground. She pulled up her pant legs and unstrapped her orange leg weights, like the one Gai uses. And dropped them to the ground. She pulled the leather gloves Tsunade gave her out of her pocket and put them on to protect her knuckles.

Then Sakura moved to Otter who was slouching. She gathered chakra into her hand in a ball. She pressed the chakra ball slowly into Otter and then they were off again. Tsunade raised an eye brow at the technique. They stook quietly for a moment.

"And what exactly was that about?" Tsunade inquired.

They all looked at Tsunade. "Which part?" Ibiki joked.

"Both" She frowned. 6 months really changes things.

"Well Gai was training her with weights to increase her physical strength and speed at Sakura's request. And I helped her with the chakra ball." Shizune said quietly with a slight tinge of pink dusting across her embarrassed face.

"And you didn't tell me!" Tsunade yelled "What on earth is it!"

"Sakura brought up a good point during one of our training sessions." Ibiki stepped in next to Shizune. "She was having a hard time concentrating on healing and battle at the same time. She told me that if her concentration on her chakra slipped even just or a second, it could mean the death of her patient. I found this to be a very valid. After a discussion during Shizune's visit, Sakura wanted to create a new technique to help her on the battle field." Ibiki looked to Shizune to finish the explanation.

"It's not refined yet. But I consulted with Naruto because what she was describing could easily fall in lines with something similar to his Rasengan. He showed me how to train Sakura with a water balloon. We didn't need to spin it so it was a lot easier to master that part. But basically, she moulds her healing chakra into a ball, an inserts it into the injured person, it goes through the blood stream and heals them from the inside out. Currently it can't be used for severe injuries that would result in bleeding out. But it is a great way to take care of some injuries without the need of being next to the patient so we could focus on evading and defending during a fight. It also uses a lot less chakra." Shizune finished, looking towards the battle field. Another yellow ANBU was being brought over.

Shizune knelt down to heal the ANBU laid down on the ground in front of her. Tsunade didn't say anything, she turned back to the battle. And saw her apprentice healing.

****back to Sakura****

She knelt down next to Panda. She could see the hole through his chest. He was heaving for air. He was in dire shape, but there was no need to worry him.

"Hey Panda, how are you feeling." Sakura asked nicely. Instead of words, she heard him gargle and cough, blood dripping down from around his mask.

"Otter I need cover, this is going to need concentration." Sakura shouted. "Hai! She heard him yell back as he took on a defense stance.

"Panda, do you want your mask off?" She asked the struggle man. He nodded so she grabbed a white mask out of her pocket and put it in his hand. "I'll look away while I lift the mask, put the cloth over your face, there are holes for your eyes, it won't cover your mouth. I won't look I promise." She knew how protective they were of their identities.

Once the mask was off and his face was covered, she began healing him. He had a lot of damage. It took her quite a few minutes to get the hole in his lungs healed shut. He would still need to take it easy. She started on the rest of the damage.

"Okami!" The man below her yelled.

She couldn't move fast enough, he grabbed her into a bear hug and they began to roll. It was enough to miss most of the explosive jutsu, but they both still took damage. Her arm now bleeding, she decided that her injury could wait a while. But Panda could not, he still had major internal injuries and the man attacking was not letting up.

"Panda, this is going to hurt." She stated, drawing chakra to her fists and punching the ground. The impact created a large crater and knocked down surrounding trees.

She heard him groan in pain under her. She grabbed him and fled, running as fast as she could.

"Evasive maneuvers?" he asked her.

"Hai, you can't afford to get any more injuries." She answered him back, winded from the running.

When she felt she could finally stop, she leaned him up against a tree. "Watch my back." She panted as she began to pool her healing chakra into her hand. He really needed more healing but whoever was after them was closing fast and she needed to make sure she didn't get a major injury herself.

That was when Panda grabbed her again and leaned them both to the side, a kunai landing right where their heads were. She still needed more time to finish the chakra ball or it wouldn't help him enough to keep him alive long enough to take care of the enemy. Another kunai came, Panda moved them again, but this time not fast enough. Sakura was hit in the shoulder. She didn't even blink at the pain. Ibiki had trained her better than that. Just a little bit longer was all she needed.

Panda moved again, but this time he held her close, crossing his arms around her head, a kunai deflected off his arm guards.

"Thank you Panda." Sakura said to him, smiling. The man was obviously in major pain. He nodded at her, unable to speak. She finally completed it and pushed the chakra ball into his chest. He took a sharp intake of air with the sensation.

She picked him back up "Okami?" He sounded confused.

She smirked at him as she fled again as fast as she could back towards the battle field. "Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. ANBU or not, the lives of your comrades are more important than the mission."

Panda nodded, he reached back and pulled out the kunai still lodged in Sakura's shoulder. She muttered her thanks. She finally made it back to the battle field and dropped Panda off in a bushy area.

"Conceal your chakra so you can finish healing, I'll take care of this guy." She said and then jumped off without a response. She ran a couple hundred yards away, with in view of Ibiki and the rest.

"Finally decided to fight me Pinky." Tiger taunted her.

"How dare you! Who do you think you are trying to kill us!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Her chakra spiked with her anger.

"Stop being such a weakling, this is a battle." He folded his arms.

"You could have easily incapacitated us and won! Every single time you went for the kill! Your team mate is already severely injured! One more hit, any more blood lost and he wouldn't have made it!" Sakura continued to yell.

Everyone on the battle field stopped fighting and began to walk over towards them.

"Oh well, one less kid playing ninja in this village." He smirked, though she couldn't see it.

She was stunned. Her eyes widened and she blinked a few times before it sank in. Then suddenly he moved towards her, kunai in hand. She leapt forward and let out a battle cry like no other.

**I think I'll end it here. Until next time readers!**


	14. Chapter 14

**As usual, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters/places. No fight scenes, as I said…. I'm horrible at them. I had a really hard time writing this one. I don't want to make Sakura insanely great, because she's not. She can't just snap her fingers and be the best and most amazing at everything. But I want to pay dues to her character at the same time. It's a hard balance to keep without letting the story get out of hand like I did my very first one.**

**Thank you for the reviews and the story favs/alerts. ONWARD! This is kind of a filler chapter.**

**Ps: sorry for the delay. No excuses really. Just haven't been feeling creative lately and wrote it small bit by bit…and then deleted a bunch of it because I didn't like it and then started again! Thanks for sticking with me though!**

They collided with such force everyone around them could feel it. Her hands were glowing with chakra as the dust cloud settled. The two ninja were locked into a fierce tijutsu battle. The blows were bone breaking from both sides but neither relented.

Sakura was starting to tire, her chakra reserves getting low. She needed to end the battle and quickly. She let Tiger land a blow to her leg that flew her back into the field further. She couldn't beat him head on; he was an ANBU for heaven sake. She was just recovering; there was no way she could hold her own. So she did what normal civilian girls do best, whine.

She screamed out when she landed hard, curled into a ball holding her leg, and shook in pain. Some of the squads, both red and yellow, started to run over towards her when Fox and Otter stopped them.

Tsunade stiffened at the sight, 'Is he going to let his ANBU continue?' She thought to herself. Ibiki noticed the change in the Hokage.

"Have a little faith in your apprentice Hokage-sama. She is stronger than most give her credit for." He said gruffly. Tsunade nodded and continue to watch.

Tiger slowly walked over to her, peering down at the girl quivering on the ground. He stomped down on her leg, successfully breaking the bone. Sakura screamed.

"Pathetic!" Tiger shouted, still putting force on her now broken leg.

She smirked suddenly. Tiger looked at her with a moment of confusion before he convulsed aggressively and fell to the ground, limbs still twitching. Sakura's body was crackling with chakra as she sat up, and Fox was immediately by her side. He lifted her onto her good leg and continued to help her balance and walk. Everyone began to walk over towards the three ninja.

"You weren't paying attention close enough to your enemy; Ibiki trained me better than to show pain and emotion. You let yourself get too riled up, your vision was clouded. One less kid playing ninja in the village, huh Tiger?" She laughed.

Her face took on a more sinister look. "If I even so much as hear about you trying to kill a loyal Konoha ninja just for your sick pleasures, I will make the damage permanent next time. I hope you have a fun time at the academy, because that's where you are going to need to start training again. Of course after you learn to walk and use your arms. Scum…." She said quietly and turned her head away towards Ibiki, indicating to Fox that she was ready to leave.

"You went too far Okami-chan." Fox stated quietly, obviously concerned.

"Maybe. But he deserved it. How is Panda?" She said panting, the fatigue suddenly hitting her.

"I don't see him, so I don't know if anyone has checked." He responded. "Choji-san, please assist her in standing, I will go find Panda."

"Thank you" Sakura whispered. He nodded in response and was off into the woods as soon as Choji had her.

"Sakura, we need to get you inside so you can heal." Choji said softly. He knew he would be wasting his breath disciplining her for something like saving a team-mate.

"Wait a second." She said and began to turn towards the remaining ANBU.

"Everyone" She spoke loudly and everyone quieted down and gave her their attention. "I just wanted to say thank you so much for the opportunity to train with you. I know some of you were hesitant at the beginning, but you have proven to be great teachers, and amazing team-mates. And because of that, I am leaving here better than before I was injured. This was by far the most progress we have made in a training exercise yet! I am so proud of each of you. It would be an honor to serve with any of you on a mission. I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your training." She said taking a small bow at the waist.

She saw quite a few nods from the ANBU. That was as good as a thank you in her book. She squeezed Choji letting him know she was ready. The exhaustion was starting to seep into her bones and she really just wanted to nap. Choji began walking her over to the Hokage and the rest of the group.

"Are you ok Sakura?" Tsunade asked as they approached, walking to meet them.

"Yes Shishou. Only minor injuries." Sakura said, suddenly turning pale and shaking. "Damnit" She said forcefully under her breath.

"What's wrong?" Shizune ran over to her, worry written all over her face.

"It was too much. I wasn't prepared to use that yet." She said taking a deep breath. "Damnit!"

Sakura's eyes began to lose focus and the world around her began to spin. Choji could feel the change in her stance and quickly swooped up her legs. He could see the worry on her face when the adrenaline from the fight started wearing off.

"I'll take her to lie down. Gai-sempai, please pack up our things and get ready to move out. Hokage-sama, Ibiki-sempai, once Sakura regains consciousness, you may ask her questions before we begin our travels. Shizune-sempai, if you will follow me, Sakura needs her injuries healed." Choji stated as he began turning towards their cabin. By that point, Sakura was out cold.

Once they all entered, Choji (with Sakura in tote), Shizune and Gai entered their sleeping quarters. Choji lay Sakura down lightly. Shizune began healing her and Gai was packing everything up quietly. Choji left the room to sit with Tsunade and Ibiki. Tsunade was kneeling next to Panda healing his severe wounds; Fox must have found him successfully.

"Care to explain what happened?" Tsunade said to no one specifically, focusing on the injuries in front of her.

"I'm not sure I can Hokage-sama. I know what she's trying to do but not exactly how." Choji answered, kneeling down opposite of Tsunade to offer assistance if needed.

She didn't answer back, which he took that she wanted him to explain but was concentrating.

"She wants to be able to utilize the lightning affinities." He paused, observing the frown on Tsunade's face. "She accomplished this in the genjutsu with the assistance of Kakashi.

"Ibiki, go get Tiger." Tsunade requested. Ibiki nodded and went to complete his task. "But knock him out. I'm not in the mood for his BS." She interjected before he was out the door.

"You can heal him Hokage-sama?" Choji inquired.

"Yes" She said quietly. "He doesn't deserve it but I can't leave him like that. I think I know what she was trying to accomplish, but she over did it. He won't be enlisted anymore. We don't need these kinds of shinobi in our village."

They sat quietly for a few moments before Tsunade broke the moment.

"How is she Choji?" Tsunade asked with a quiet voice.

"She is fit for duty ma'am." He replied back. Tsunade sighed loudly.

"How is my daughter?" Tsunade looked up at him with a lot of emotion on her face.

"Physically she is fine. Mentally, she is…" He paused to find the correct wording. "in progress."

They paused while Ibiki brought in Tiger and laid him on the floor unconscious.

"She understands everything. She has come to terms with it. But she is still stubbornly holding onto what happened in the genjutsu. Not in terms of thinking it was her life. She doesn't struggle with that any more. She believes a lot of the things that were accomplished are still plausible." He finished and helped get Tiger situated.

"Are they plausible?" Tsunade asked while moving to begin to work on Tiger.

"She has already proved to me that they are. However, she pursues these objectives in an unhealthy manner. She gets obsessed. But, that may not be a problem when she is back to duty. She won't have as much time on her hands." Choji responded back sadly. He was still worried for his friend.

"And what about the Kakashi situation?" Ibiki asked when Tsunade was too concentrated on healing Tiger.

"That is still a touchy subject. She understands that they aren't together, as you know. But she still harbors feelings for him. She is prepared to bury those and not act on them, unless of course Kakashi makes a move. When I spoke to her yesterday, she was excited to get back to Konoha. She is ready for this to be over. But she is still very apprehensive to return and adapt while she is dealing with her feelings for Kakashi." Choji ran his hand down his face, he was exhausted. "She's afraid that it will be too much for her emotionally. But her admitting that is a huge improvement from where we started."

Ibiki chuckled loudly. He really worked hard on Sakura in a lot of areas in her mental and emotional development. Choji really gave a great base to work from with his therapy with Sakura, but Ibiki could take it to a level that no other shinobi was able.

Tsunade finished up healing Tiger and placed her hand on his forehead, completing a jutsu to keep him unconscious for a while. Gai made an appearance at that point with food and invited everyone over to eat. They all ate quietly for a bit until Shizune appeared out of the sleeping quarters.

"How is she?" Tsunade asked with a mouth full of rice.

"She is fine, but she is going to need to rest a bit. Her chakra was really low." Shizune said obviously very exhausted.

"Have a seat Shizune. Have something to eat; you look like you need it." Choji stood and motioned her to a seat on the floor.

"Thank you Choji." She said sitting down with Choji's help. She really was tired from all the healing. "So what is the game plan from here?"

"We will let her rest for a bit, and then we'll head back to the village. I already thought about the issue with Kakashi, so I sent him out on a mission. We are going to have an issue with other things though." Tsunade took a long breath. "The council pulled strings again and managed to get their fingers where they don't belong."

"They let the Uchiha out." Ibiki stated with a frown on his face.

"What? How could they do that?" Choji voiced his concern.

"We don't have any solid proof that Sasuke did this to Sakura. We know it but we have no way of taking proof to the council to sentence him." Tsunade explained.

"But I don't – " Choji was going to argue but Tsunade interrupted him.

"It is out of our hands!" She slammed her fists down on the table, effectively silencing the group. "However, I was able to add conditions to his release. One of such being his chakra will be sealed with a limiter and his Sharingan being sealed. These seals are in place do to his desertion of the village and I will be the only one able to remove the seals." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"There's something else isn't there?" Choji asked, seeing the look she had. He knew she had more to add.

"The council wants something. We aren't sure what that something is yet. But they have always been obsessed with the Sharingan since Sasuke left and Itachi died." Shizune said, easily showing her frustration. "Since Sasuke has come back, they have been non-stop nagging us about releasing him and wanting to know what our plan is."

"Sasuke has been endlessly requesting audience with Sakura. We have been stalling, but we can't put it off much longer." Tsunade rubbed her temples. "I need to consult the Nara's on this."

"You asked her to help you figure out what Sasuke is plotting before she left. She mentioned it previously." Ibiki stated

"And she accepted. I wanted to give Sakura some time to adjust in the village so I sent Kakashi and Sasuke on a D-Rank mission to escort Temari back to her village. She obviously doesn't need it, but Shikamaru knows the situation so I'm sure she does to. She'll keep an eye out on everything for me and report back when they get to the village. They are to stay there a week and return with Gaara's reply." Tsunade replied.

They all heard a noise and looked towards the doorway to see an exhausted Sakura standing on shaky legs. Gai leapt over to her quickly to support her if needed, which she graciously accepted. Gai had an arm around her waist and helped her walk over to the table next to Choji who helped her sit. Gai ran to the other room to fetch some food for her. He quickly returned with four bowls of various deliciousness, which Sakura proceeded to devour in the most un-girly manner, making her mentor smile.


	15. Chapter 15

Something was up, that much he knew. Tsunade had supposedly gone to Sand to meet with Gaara. But then why had Naruto sent him on what should be a D-rank mission to escort Tamari to Sand…. With Sasuke Uchiha. This was clearly a babysitting mission, but he couldn't figure out why. Things just weren't adding up. He hadn't seen Gai or Choji for over 6 months. Any time he asked about Sakura, he got shut down.

Maybe he pushed for information to much, and that was why he was now on babysitting duty. But something just didn't feel right. Something was going on behind the scenes. But for now, he just had to get Temari to Sand, and she certainly was taking her time.

"Let's take a rest. I'm hungry." Temari stated, dropping her fan off her back and moving to take a seat on the ground.

Kakashi could barely hold in the sigh that was about to escape his mouth.

"Are you fucking serious." Sasuke seethed. "This is the second time in the last hour!"

Temari whipped herself around with a look that would kill. "And? Last I checked, YOU were escorting ME." She said loudly back to Sasuke.

"WE WOULD BE DONE WITH THIS MISSION IF YOU WEREN'T BEING SUCH A BIT-" Sasuke's screaming rampage was ended quickly by Kakashi putting his hand over his mouth.

"Sasuke, shut your mouth and go collect some fire wood. We will camp here for tonight." Kakashi ordered.

"WE ARE NOT CAMPIN-" Sasuke was interrupted again by Kakashi.

"That's an order Sasuke. Or do you want me to report back to the Hokage that you aren't following orders. I'm sure she would be more than happy to give you back to Ibiki." Kakashi said with his signature smooth voice and smile that you could only see from the way his eyes closed.

"Fuck this mission…" Sasuke mumbled as he turned to fulfill his order.

"Kami that boy is getting on my last nerve!" Temari said, throwing her arms in the air dramatically.

Kakashi sighed loudly. "He has that way with people. But I can honestly understand. Even I am starting to get a little stir crazy with our slow progress."

"I'm sorry Kakashi. I know this is child's play for you. I originally requested Ino for this mission but she was reassigned at the last minute. I always have enjoyed your company, but I could have done without Duck Butt tagging along." Temari finally sat down.

"Temari…" Kakashi ran his hands through his hair. "Why are we taking so long?" He asked not looking at her.

"It's a long story…" Temari said picking at the grass.

"I seem to have a whole night of nothing to do on my hands." Kakashi pushed a little more.

There was a long pause. Neither spoke and Kakashi didn't feel it right to continue pushing. He would get the information eventually.

Kakashi looked up when he heard noise. Sasuke was coming back with his first arms full of wood. They would need plenty more to keep a fire going through the night. He dropped it on the ground in a messy pile quite a ways away from Kakashi and then turned around and headed back out.

Kakashi got up and began prepping the fire. Temari was laying back, staring up at the sky, a hand sitting lazily on her stomach.

Realization hit Kakashi hard. "You're pregnant." He stated quietly.

She lifted her head to look at him for a moment before lowering it back down to the ground. "Yes."

"How far?" He asked, lighting the fire.

"Twelve weeks." She whispered.

Kakashi left out a long breath.

"How does your brother feel about it?" Kakashi asked.

"Which one?" Temari laughed. "Kankuro is ready to murder Shika. Gaara doesn't seem to care other than he thinks it's a great opportunity to strengthen ties between the villages. Which in his own way says he cares. But you know about him and expressing his emotions."

Kakashi grunted his agreement, unsure of what to add to the conversation.

"So how about you Kakashi? Settle down with anyone yet?" Temari threw some grass at him.

Kakashi chuckled "No one wants an old man like me."

"Not true." Temari snorted, but before he could ask any more questions, Sasuke returned with the remainder of the wood.

Kakashi moved toward the wood and began constructing a fire. Soon enough they were all sitting around cooking their food and appreciating the silence.

It had been about a week since Sakura returned to the village. She was currently laying in the grass, a hot sweaty mess.

Upon hearing of her soon to be arrival, Naruto met her at the gates. She wished that hug could have lasted forever. He made her feel safe, feel like someone needed her. And she really needed to focus on someone other than herself. She would by lying to herself if she said she wasn't disappointed that Kakashi wasn't in the village right now. She was still apprehensive to see him but she really did miss all her boys. Tsunade had filled her in on the Sasuke situation and she was really unsure what to do with that, but she was incredibly glad to have Choji to discuss it with. He had even gotten Shikamaru and Ino to join in, so she had included Naruto.

Naruto was currently sparring with her. He had to use multiple shadow clones to give her a challenge without actually getting himself hurt. It was a precaution they both agreed on after she accidentally broke his jaw in a previous spar.

"Sakura!" She heard a shout. She lifted her head to see Ino barreling toward her, waving her arm in the air to get her attention.

"Hey Ino!" Naruto yelled, waving back at the blonde.

She finally joined the two, and took a moment to catch her breath.

"He's….back" Ino said between breaths.

Sakura lifted her head again. "Kakashi?"

Ino nodded at her friend "And Sasuke."

Sakura scrambled to her feet. Looking down at herself. "I…I….."

"You what?" Naruto asked, concerned for her sudden change in behavior.

Sakura suddenly grabbed Ino and pulled her back the way she came. "I'll see you later Naruto, I need to talk to Ino for a little bit."

"Ok! If you need me I'll be at the ramen stand!" He yelled back at the two.

"Sakura" Ino said sternly with no response "Sakura what on earth has gotten into you."

"I need you to work your magic." She said matter-of-factly.

"On?" Ino knew where this was going but Sakura needed to say it. She wasn't going to be the one to push her into this.

Suddenly Sakura stopped, let go of her hand and spun around. She threw her arms up in the air and yelled "I can't let him see me like this! I haven't had time to get my hair cut or anything since I've gotten back!" She took a deep breath and more quietly this time responded "I know it shouldn't matter and I shouldn't pursue. But I have thought a lot about it. Just because I am not going to pursue him doesn't mean I shouldn't give him a reason to pursue me, right?"

"Exactly!" Ino squealed. Now it was her turn to grab Sakura by the hand and rush toward her house. They only had a short time to get her ready and she wanted Sakura to look perfect for her crush!

Once they got in the door, Ino pulled out a kitchen chair and sat Sakura down in it and ran for the scissors "We don't have much time, we are going to have to do a rush job. Once I get your hair cut, I'll get all the other stuff ready while you shower. Then we'll do your facial and soak your hands and while that's going, ill style your hair." She said running to the drawer that held her scissors.

They were nearing the end of the makeover, just letting Sakura's nails dry when they heard a knock at the door. Ino could tell Naruto's chakra from a mile away.

"Come in Naruto!" Ino yelled towards the door. She looked back to Sakura.

"Are you going to keep the baggy pants and stuff?" Ino asked, finally deciding to just put some mascara on the girl. She didn't need any makeup, she was gorgeous without it. But it made her green eyes pop.

She heard the door open and close.

"Hey beautiful." Sakura looked past Ino to see Naruto with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh shut up. You big oaf." Sakura said sticking out her tounge.

"Well, he's right. You are gorgeous." Ino said, putting the mascara away and stepping back to appreciate her work.

"What do you think Naruto." Ino asked her friend.

"Kakashi won't be able to resist." Naruto smirked.

"Naruto!" Sakura squealed, turning red.

Ino laughed and gave Naruto a high-five.

"Anyway, Baa-chan wants to see you in her office. They are officially back in the village and are at the Hokage office." He said giving her a knowing look. "Ino, do your jutsu. We need to make it look like she didn't just get herself all gussied up when she is wearing that. She needs to look like she was sparring or something. We can play into the whole Sasuke thing and say you were trying to search her mind to see if you could figure anything out about the genjutsu. That should peak Sasuke's interest."

"When did you become so smart Naruto." Sakura said with a small smile as she stood up.

"I think you hit my head so much that you fixed my brain." Naruto said looking completely serious. There was a long pause, then they all started laughing.

Sakura and Ino took a seat on the floor and Ino began her jutsu. Naruto moved to the kitchen to make the girls something to eat for the walk to the tower. He knew Sakura had to be starving by now.

He heard a low moan coming from the living room so he went to investigate. He saw both Ino and Sakura laying on the floor rubbing their temples.

"What happened?" He said lifting Ino onto the couch and then going to grab Sakura.

"This didn't happen when I was getting her out of the genjutsu." Ino said in obvious pain.

"What happened?" He asked again.

"There is a block." Ino said as if he understood what she meant.

"An explosive one." Sakura said.

"Well, I have no idea what you two are talking about, let's get to Baa-chan and we can figure it out.

He squatted down in front of Sakura and she got on his back. "Sakura you're going to have to hang on yourself, I can't let Ino walk like this." Naruto said as he started scooping up Ino bridal style.

Naruto quickly made his way out of Ino's apartment and to the Hokage's office.

He started up the stairs and thank goodness Shizune spotted them.

"Oh my goodness Naruto what happened?!" Shizune was by his side in an instant.

"I'm not sure. Something about an explosive wall in Sakura's head. Baa-chan should know." Naruto said as Shizune opened the door to the office for him.

"All get Ino's dad here to help." Shizune said while he was entering, Tsunade heard what she said and looked up.

She quickly and strode over to Naruto. Kakashi looked over at that moment, seeing Sakura on Naruto's back passed out.

"Naruto what's going on?" Tsunade lifted Sakura off his back so he could set Ino down on the couch.

"Shizune is going to get Ino's dad. Sakura wanted Ino to help her try to remember. But Ino said something about a wall. And Sakura said it was explosive. I'm not sure what happened but they were both pretty out of it. Sakura passed out about half way here. Ino is completely out of it. She was mumbling something the entire time." He said, wiping sweat off his face.

"Kakashi, you two are dismissed for now, take Sasuke back to him home and seal it. We wont be needing him for the rest of the day." Tsunade said.

"No way, this is the first time you have even given me a chance to even see Sakura, I'm not leaving." Sasuke said with a low growl.

"Get the hell out of my office!" Tsunade yelled back. "and Kakashi, get your ass back here after you get that bastard back to his house arrest." She sighed and turned back to her pink haired apprentice. "Oh Sakura, what mess are you into now."


	16. Chapter 16

She was watching Obito and Ino playing with other kids at the hospital play ground. Kakashi brought lunch and the kids wanted to have a picnic, but quickly got distracted by the other children running around. She lived for moments like these. She allowed herself a few moments of piece, positioning herself to lay her head on her husband's legs. After a few moments of watching the kids play happily, she drifted off to sleep.

She didn't know how long she was out, but she jerked awake. She hadn't wanted to fall asleep like that, she needed to get back to her shift. She pushed off her husband, looking for her children. She didn't see them. She stood quickly, looking around from her higher vantage point, still no one.

"OBITO. INO. TIME TO GO HOME." She yelled out with no response. She started getting panicked.

"OBITO?" She yelled once more before she was about to set off towards the play area to frantically search for her children. Before she could go, she felt a hand grip her ankle. She looked down to see Sasuke…..

"What is your issue?" Sasuke asked in a monotone voice.

Sakura was taken back. "Let go of me!" she wretched her ankle from his grip. She grabbed him up from the ground by his shirt, chakra leaking in to her hands. "What have you done with my son and daughter." She seethed at him

Sasuke glared at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Let go of my shirt." He barked back at her.

She tightened her grip and brought her closer. "Where is Obito and Ino, Sasuke." She said through gritted teeth. Chakra was freely waving off her body now.

"Who the hell is Obito?" Sasuke had a look of pure disgust on his face. He grabbed her wrists and tried to release himself with no luck.

"I swear to Kami, Uchiha, if you hurt my son in any way, I will show you what torture really is." She spat at him.

Next thing she knew she was on the ground holding her face. He hit her. Hard. She spit blood out onto the blanket.

"Momma?" She heard a small voice yell. "What happened? Are you ok? Do you need a bandaid?"

She knew that voice from anywhere, that was her son. She saw his little feet in front of her and she looked up and reached out to pull him into her arms. She gripped him into a tight embrace.

"Did Daddy hurt you Momma?" The child asked quietly.

She brought him out to arms length to reassure him. But instead her mouth hung in shock and her eyes widened. She stared at the young boy with black eyes and black hair. This was not her son. This was not Obito.

"Leave her alone Itachi." Sasuke said, holding out his arm to grab the boy as he took a step towards them.

Sakura reacted before she could think and she grabbed the boy and pulled him quickly towards her, protecting him from what Sasuke.

"Don't you dare touch him YOU BASTARD!" Sakura screamed at the Uchiha.

Sakura and the boy were thrown to the ground as she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. He had kicked her as she shielded this young boy. She was so confused. This was not her son. She had no idea what was happening. But she would not let that bastard hurt an innocent child. She hunched her body over his as he shook in fear.

"Sweetie, listen to me" She whispered. "I need you to run into the hospital and find help ok. Find someone and then hide. I will come find you. Ok?" She tried to sound as calm as possible. "Do you understand sweetheart?" She nuzzled into his hair.

"Yes Momma." She heard him whisper back before she was abruptly thrown off of the boy. She hit the ground hard with what felt like a few broken ribs. She got up on shaky legs and looked at the bastard in the face as he moved towards 'their' child with fire in his eyes.

She sprinted towards him and threw a chakra laden punch before he could reach the boy. "GO!" She screamed at him. The boy was immediately on his feet and running as fast as he could.

Sasuke dodged her attack. "ITACHI GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE. DON'T MAKE ME COME AFTER YOU!" He screamed at his supposed child.

"I will not let you touch that boy." Sakura said panting in pain.

"That is laughable." Sasuke retorted with a laugh. "You, Sakura Uchiha, think you are going to be able to do anything to keep ME away?"

Suddenly she got a sharp pain in her head. She lost her balance and fell to the ground. She looked over towards the hospital to see the boy finally reaching the doors and running inside. She smiled to herself. He would be safe now. The pain was eating away at her vision and soon she blacked out, with the last thing she saw being the Uchiha and his Sharringan eyes ablaze and a damn smirk on his face.

..…You will not win…..

She tried as hard as she could to get those words out of her mouth before she was out for good. She wasn't sure she was successful as she was soon swimming in blackness.

Inoichi had been at it for over an hour now. At one point he had simply said 'Ibiki' without coming out of his jutsu.

"You will not win" Naruto heard her whisper. He didn't leave her side the entire time. He had sat and watched all the emotions dance across her and Inoichi's face.

He stood up immediately upon hearing her. That was the sign that Inoichi had told them to watch for. He rushed over to Tsunade and Ibiki.

"She spoke." He said quietly.

"What did she say." Tsunade stood up from her desk and began walking around it and towards Sakura.

"She said 'you will not win'." Naruto responded. Ibiki raised his eyebrows at this.

Just as they got back over to Sakura, Inoichi was releasing his jutsu. He took a deep breath and stretched his back.

"Were you successful?" Tsunade asked.

"Hai." He said standing. "There definitely was an 'explosive wall' in her mind. The genjutsu was more advanced than I had originally thought." He turned to address the Hokage.

"Will she be alright?" Tsunade asked him, worry very clearly written all over her face.

"In my personal opinion, yes" He took a deep breath and looked to Ibiki. "However, something changed and going forward her mind shouldn't be probed for the genjutsu. Ino is very talented in what she can do, but it was hard for even me to get in and out without more damage."

"What changed?" Ibiki pressed for more information.

"She slipped back into the genjutsu. I'm not sure what exactly triggered it but she was in it and it was different than the one Ino originally described. I didn't want to stress her the way Ino had originally by showing herself, I wanted her to come out of it on her own." He paused trying to find the right words. "It started off as her and Kakashi like it was, but then at one point it changed to her and Sasuke. She seemed pretty disturbed by this. They had a child that Sasuke called Itachi, and Sakura knew that it wasn't what it was supposed to be. It ended pretty brutally." He turned to the Hokage. "Would it be ok if I rested and then handed in my full report. That was a very difficult task and it took a lot out of me. I would like to rest."

"Yes of course. Thank you." She nodded, looking at her student. "Will she wake up soon?"

"Yes, she's just resting. Her mind has to completely regain its balance again before it will allow her to wake." He said, bowing his head to the Hokage before lifting a sleeping Ino and leaving the room.

Tsunade took a deep breath. "Naruto, get Sakura home and into bed please. And if you see Kakashi on the way, I want him to stay with her until she wakes up. And then I want you back here ASAP. We have a lot of things to discuss." She said walking back to her desk. "No one is to speak of this, understood?"

"Hai Baa-chan" He answered lifting the girl bridal style, scooting out the window and taking to the roof tops.


End file.
